


Hallelujah

by My_Missing_H



Category: BioShock Infinite, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Typical Racism, Canon Typical Religious Views, Like if you've played Infinite then you already know what I mean, M/M, Sex Dreams, Skinny Dipping, Slow Burn, the slowest of burns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-18
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-01-09 03:46:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1141046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Missing_H/pseuds/My_Missing_H
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott is forced to emigrate from his home town by his overly religious father. The only place he sees fit for his son is the safe floating haven of Columbia. Scott quickly loses his anger when he meets his housemate Stiles, who is definitely the best thing that could have happened to him upon entering the city.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Admittedly, Scott was extremely nervous about this, one minute his overly religious father had signed him up on the roster for Columbia emigrations, the next he was standing at the base of an enormous lighthouse, the same lighthouse that he’s seen picture of in his textbooks since he was a child.

He and the other underage pilgrims find themselves ushered inside and up the circular staircase by a man in a priest’s cloak. The only sounds to accompany his thoughts of dread and and anxiousness were a few hushed whispers and the sounds of footsteps on the metal stairs.

Reaching the top level of the lighthouse, all the teens and children fell silent.

“Children!” Boomed the voice of the priest. “Are you ready to undertake your pilgrimage and become the future of Columbia? To wash away your sins in the name of the Holy Father and the Prophet? Are you ready to ascend to the Heaven of Columbia?” A few people nodded in excitement, mostly the altar boys and priest’s children, those crazy enough to sign up on their own.

Scott, however, was in no mood to nod. Sure, he was leaving behind a broken household, but he was also leaving behind his closest friends Lydia and Derek, he was leaving behind his loving and beautiful mother, he was leaving behind Allison, the girl he loved who was taken away from him when they were discovered in bed together.

That was the reason that he was in this damn lighthouse, for not obeying the word of the lord while under his father’s roof.

But now it doesn’t matter. Not when he is standing at the bell-adorned gate to Columbia, nor when the priest is taking his hand and sitting him in the red cushioned seat. Sitting him in the red cushioned seat that so many people have dreamed their whole lives of sitting in.

It doesn’t matter how he got himself here, what matters now is that clamps appear from nowhere and hold down his wrists. Metal comes up from the sides and seals together, creating an airtight pod.

 _Be aware, the restraints are for your protection._ The voice over the intercom says flatly.

“Like Hell they are.” He curses, struggling uselessly against the metal cuffs surrounding his wrists, to the point where he doesn’t realize that he’s up in the air until for a split second, he glances up through the ovular porthole and sees the clouds rushing downward.

Scott is flying through the air, the metal pod streaming through dark clouds filled with rain. His terror interrupted by a female voice playing over the speakers.

 _15000 feet._ The voice on the intercom states.

As the pod breaks through the cloud cover, the meridian glare of day streams in through the glass porthole. 

_Hallelujah!_ The voice announces. Straight in front of him, Scott sees the fabled Columbia monument, basking in the warm glow of the evening sun, its beauty far more than any description that Scott read in his textbooks down on the surface.

In the foreground he can see the floating islands, carrying shops as well as town squares and homes, rising and falling and docking together, giving the city the illusion of being alive. He sees a few people on the bridges waving up at his pod, maybe he’d wave back if his wrists weren’t still secured to this damn chair.

That’s when he notices that the pod is finally making its descent. Lord knows he’s read about this part so many times, but actually thinking about going through it makes him want to hurl; he has to walk through the church and get baptised otherwise he can’t get into the city. Of course there has to be some sort of maintenance duct to get through, but that would take the kind of effort that Scott really isn’t willing to put himself through in the case that he could get stopped and questioned about why the Hell he was breaking through a plumbing access panel instead of doing the sensible thing and just getting his tan ass baptised.

His pod docks and slowly descends into the sanctuary.

_Why would he send his savior unto us,_  
 _if we will not raise a finger for our own salvation?_  
 _And though we deserved not his mercy,_  
 _he has led us to this new eden,_  
 _a last chance for redemption._

How many times had Scott read that particular passage. Read it as a message of spite to those who could not manage a way to get off of “The Sodom Below” and travel to the “Eden of the Sky.” Now here those words were here in front of him, spit back in his face as if to laugh at how much he just did not want to be here.

The front panel of the pod finally detaches; lowering in front of him; and his wrist cuffs break apart, essentially freeing him into what he thinks of as a further state of entrapment. Stepping out of the pod, he’s slightly surprised to find himself in a short layer of water, just another thing on his list of ‘Things about Columbia that have irritated me in the past five minutes’. Of course, walking through the ankle deep water in the Church of Comstock, he isn’t exactly willing and able to voice his negative opinions, so he just continues down the halls, picking up a few silver pieces he sees on the ground before descending the stairs, and approaching the circle of worshippers that blocks his entrance into the city.

“Ah, who do we have here? Could it be one of Father Harris’ newcomers? Come into the circle and tell us your name, son.”

Scott, of course, obeys the man’s instructions and sloshes into the middle of the circle, the baptismal water now at knee level. “My name is Scott McCall, Father.”

“Well Scott, as I’m sure you know, the only way into the city is to cleanse you of your sins through baptism.” The priest takes his hand and pulls him over. “Are you ready, my son?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Scott tries to offer the man a smile but he’s sure it looks as fake as the marbled plastic on his old kitchen counters.

“Good boy, Columbia could use a sharp tongue like yours.” The priest’s smile is nothing like Scott’s just was; it is gentle and warm and actually for a moment makes Scott feel at ease, that is, until he remembers what he is doing. “I baptise you, in the name of our Prophet, in the name of the Founders, in the name of the Lord!” And with that, the Priest places his hand on Scott’s face and plunges him into the cold water, holding him under for a few seconds before pulling him back up. “Welcome my son, into the folds of Columbia.”

Echoes and cheers of “Welcome!” and “Hallelujah!” break out amongst the circle of followers. As he slowly makes his way down the water filled tunnel, he can see more members of his group start to gather in the circle behind him, not that he cares much about it, he’s already on his way out the door.

At least he assumes so, until he finds himself back in the glow of the sun, standing in the center of a pond, surrounded by three large marble statues of the Founders. Now finally under the natural light of the sun, he looks around to observe the garden, the area filled up with both scattered worshippers, and a group of people wearing more secular outfits holding big cards with names on them.

Searching around, he finds the name McCall written on the card held by a boy about his age dressed up in an uncomfortable looking suit. When his eyes linger too long, the boy smiles and extends his hand, much in a similar way as the priest he just met had. “Hi, my name is Stiles, I’m here to take you home.” 

“What do you mean home?” Scott is worried, like he missed some sort of big announcement, which in reality he didn’t, but with the way he wasn’t really paying attention to Father Harris at the lighthouse, he very well might have.

“Oh, did they not tell you? Well a bunch of families signed up on a list to be matched with the new pilgrims to Columbia, that way there would be a place for everyone to live. So when I say I’m taking you home, I mean to my home.” Stiles paused for maybe a millisecond, “Well I mean it’s your home now too, I don’t wanna be rude or unwelcoming, _mi casa es su casa._ ” Stiles sure likes to talk is the first thought that passed though Scott’s mind.

“What did you say punk?” An older man is giving Stiles a look like he just ran over a kitten.

 _“Mi casa es su casa_? It means ‘my house is your house’ in Spanish.”

“I know what it means punk, we don’t speak that kind of Mexican nonsense here, you best get out of this garden before you sully it with your foul mouth.”

Scott didn’t like this guy, he could probably spend hours talking about how he didn’t like this guy and he has absolutely no idea who he is. “Hey sir, don’t be rude to my friend just because he was being kind to me.” Is all he gets out before the man gets a bit too close for comfort.

“The Devil’s words are also spoken in kindness, you’d do well to remember that here, boy.” 

But Scott doesn’t pay much attention to his words, he’s more in-tuned to Stiles behind him quietly squeaking out the word “Friend?”

“Stiles, we should probably get out of here.” Scott turns around and walks toward the gate at the far end of the garden. He makes it about halfway there before he hears Stiles run after him, hollering.

“Wait, you don’t even know where you’re going.” Of course, that earns a good chuckle from Scott.

“I don’t need to know where I’m going, as long as it’s away from that guy. The nerve of him, talking rude to you when you were just being nice, people like that burn me up.” His hands clench tightly for a moment, releasing when he hears Stiles’ voice.

“You mean it?” Stiles looks over at him and they stop walking.

“Mean what? Of course they do, I can’t stand-” But Stiles cuts him off quickly.

“No, that we’re friends. You and I. Buddies, compatriots, brothers-in-arms.” He tends to move his hands quite a bit while he talks, but instead of annoying Scott, it only draws him further into what his companion is saying.

“Yeah of course we’re friends, we’re living together, I wouldn’t want to be enemies, that would just be ridiculous and awful.” He sizes Stiles up for a moment as the bridge to the town square floats lazily up to connect the two artificial islands.

“That’s nifty, I mean I’d like that, that we could be friends, I don’t really have too many friends, I guess there really aren’t that many friends to be had these days, that’s probably why they’re bringing people up from the mainland.”

“You sure tend to talk a lot don’t you?” Scott observes as they begin to cross the now docked bridge. “Not that I find it annoying or bothersome, I really don’t like the silence so if anything I rather enjoy you talking a lot, I was just making an observation.”

For a moment, Stiles looks at Scott as though he just brought down the Sun and said ‘Here take this’, but then that moment ends, and his face drops to look at the ground and their moving feet. “I appreciate that, not many people can deal with me talking for that long. Usually they just ignore me or walk away.” Scott can hear just a twinge of pain and disappointment in his voice before he snaps his head up, all smiles and moles that honestly make no sense.

Scott actually manages a genuine laugh, “Well you won’t have to deal with that from me, you’re my only friend now, to run away from you would just be stupid.”

It’s Stiles’s turn to laugh now, “I suppose you have a point there.”

They return to walking, neither really feeling the need to say anything, just really enjoying the walk. Scott takes in some more of the amazing scenery. “What was it like? Living on the surface?”

Scott has a feeling that this conversation might last a little bit, so he takes a seat on a nearby bench, Stiles sitting next to him quickly. “Well it’s so much different than here, that’s for sure.” That earns a good chuckle from Stiles.

“Well yeah, duh, but what’s it like? Are there vandals and thieves everywhere? Do blacks and whites really live in the same kinds of houses? What’s weather really like? You know we haven’t had rain in so long, and I heard that theres this thing called lightning, but apparently we’re too high up to get it.”

So much information to process, Scott didn’t even really think about how different this place was. “Well yeah, lightning is a thing, it’s like a huge streak of electricity through the sky and it makes a huge booming sound.” Stiles is already enthralled. “Um, no there aren’t vandals and thieves all over, the police usually catch the people who commit crimes. And of course blacks and whites can live in the same kinds of houses, I mean my boss at my job was black you know.” Stiles looks around fearfully after Scott says that last statement, but after noticing that no one is around them, he returns to the conversation.

“Really? Did you like work on a farm or something?”

“No, I worked in a veterinary clinic,” Come to think of it, Scott wasn’t entirely sure if they had any pets up in Columbia, “It’s like a little hospital for animals.” Stiles oohs and ahhs and now Scott is sure that they don’t have any pets up here. “Well to be a vet, you have to go to school and get a degree and a license and everything, and that’s what my boss did.”

“You mean blacks can go to schools?!” Stiles exclaims before slamming a hand over his mouth and looking around, once again sighing a breath of relief that no one is around to hear them.

“Yeah of course, and that’s what I was going to do too, Deaton always said I had a way with animals, that’s why he hired me to help out.”

“That’s crazy, like so crazy I almost can’t believe it, you’re not lying to me are you?” Stiles points a finger almost comically at Scott’s nose.

“Of course not, why would I be?”

“You make a persuasive argument, Sir Scott,” He chuckles and stands up, motioning for Scott to do the same. “Tell me more about this strange, crazy, awe inspiring land that you come from.”

As they begin to walk, Scott wiggles his finger, “No no no, it’s my turn to ask questions, Starting with who your parents are and what should I know before we get to the house?”

For a brief moment once more, Stiles looks at the ground and walks a bit slower before realizing his actions and returning to pace, head snapping up, “Well, my dad is one of the heads of the Columbia police force, so yeah, don’t break any laws.”

“What about your mom?”

“My mom died a few years ago. Cancer.” Suddenly it felt like the wind had rushed out of Scott’s lungs; he felt absolutely horrid for bringing it up.

“Stiles, I’m so sorry.”

“No, you’re fine, you couldn’t have known.” He pauses for a moment, almost contemplating his next words. “Anyway, it’s just me and my dad, but he works a lot so he probably won’t be at the house too much, and as long as we don’t break any laws he should be fine.” That earned a good chuckle from Scott.

“At least that’s easy. What else should I know?”

“Well, we don’t have much space in the house, so you and I are gonna have to share a room.” There’s a slight hitch in Stiles’ breathing, almost slight enough for Scott not to notice it, but he decides to ignore it. “Not a bed obviously, just a room. You’ll have your own bed, with pillows and blankets and a mattress and everything.” His voice sounds a bit tense, but Scott doesn’t want to make anything unnecessarily awkward by pointing it out.

“Well I’d hope there’s a mattress.” Stiles laughs and the tension visibly falls out of his body.

“Of course!” He exclaims, arms shooting towards the sky. “Us Stilinskis are experts at guest catering and making you feel at home.”

“Wait a second, your name is Stiles Stilinski? That’s like being named John Johnson or Bob Robertson.” Stiles stops and gulps, and once again Scott is worried that the’s said the wrong thing. 

“Okay my real first name isn’t Stiles, but I go by Stiles.”

“What’s your first name?” Scott knows exactly what look is forming on his face. According to teachers who may or may not be reliable, it’s the look that he gets just before things in the classroom just decide to spontaneously explode.

“You have to promise not to tell anyone. If you tell then I’ll rip your arms off and throw them off the city.” Scott chuckles and runs a finger over his chest in an x.

“Cross my heart.” Stiles looks around to make sure that no one is in earshot, and luckily; or perhaps unluckily; for him, the streets are nice and calm and empty today. Leaning forward, he whispers in Scott’s ear.

“Genim.” To which Scott explodes with laughter.

“Really? Now I know why you go by Stiles.” He can’t control his laughter.

“Scooooooott.” Stiles whines. “C’mon, quit it.”

Looking around, Scott sees no one on the street so he decides to be just a little bit unfair. “Okay Genim, I won’t use your first name.”

“Aw Scott that’s just mean.” And Stiles forces a frown onto his face, but Scott can see right through it because the corners of his lips are trying to turn up. He pinches Stiles’ cheek and laughs.

“Okay fine, it’s your turn to ask some questions.” He can see Stiles pondering next to him. Considering the last couple of questions, Scott isn’t exactly sure what is about to be thrown at him, or whether he needs to prepare himself.

“Did you have a steady?” It seems like any preparation Scott could do would be useless because he has absolutely no clue what that means.

“A steady?”

“You know, like a lady friend? A girl you went out to town with a lot?” Unfortunately for Scott, thinking of Allison also reminds him exactly why he’s in the flying city to begin with,

“That’s the reason I’m here, my stupid father thought I was getting too close to this one girl, and disobeying God’s laws, so he signed me up on the first flying pod to The Righteous City.” The second he spits out the last words, Scott looks over to Stiles and his expression switches from anger to worry, he doesn’t want to make Stiles mad by insulting the city or his religion or whatever. 

Stiles, noticing Scott’s change in expression, scoffs. “No, you’re fine. I’m not the biggest fan of all the things that go on up here. You should probably avoid that talk near my dad though, just to be safe.” Scott nods at that.

“What about you Stiles? Do you have some girl stashed away? Ready to be whisked away on a floating cloud of love?” He draws out the last word and bats his eyelashes, to which he receives a friendly shove.

“Nah, I’m not really interested in that sort of thing. I’m floating solo on that cloud of love my friend.” Scott chuckles, once again beginning to lose his anger in the state of being that is Stiles. “So I feel like I shouldn’t ask about your dad, but what about your mom?” And to that, it’s Scott’s turn to lose himself in the parental sadness.

“I haven’t seen my mom in a while. She used to work as a nurse in the hospital, but then her and my dad started fighting, and she left.” Stiles puts a hand on Scott’s shoulder, a beacon of support. “She still sends me birthday cards, she says she misses me and that she loves me. I just miss her a lot.” Scott tries to wipe away a tear before Stiles can notice, but it’s too late and Stiles just puts a hand under his chin and lifts his face up before continuing to walk. 

“Hey, it’s alright, maybe one day you’ll see her again.” Stiles knows full well that there is no way to leave Columbia once you’ve entered. He also knows full well that false hope is always better than no hope at all.

“Yeah, I hope so.” A few minutes of walking are filled with silence, only to be broken by Stiles, as if that were a surprise.

“It’s your turn to ask a question you know.” He says distractedly, looking up as a police hovercraft flies overhead, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake.

“Oh I guess it is.” Scott deliberates for a second. His history books explained a great deal about the city itself, but never the things inside. Looking at a poster on the wall of a shop, he comes up with a question. “What’s a Voxophone?”

“You don’t know what a Voxophone is? Yikes you must be living in the dark ages down there.” Scott shoots him a dirty look and he shuts his mouth quickly. “A Voxophone is this really cool thing where you can record your voice and play it back. You can keep an audio diary or leave someone a message, it’s really cool.” Scott looks at Stiles incredulously.

“So you’re telling me that I can just record my voice? And I can play it over and over? Like a personal record or something?” Stiles laughs a little bit, not even realizing how crazy the idea sounds to Scott.

“Of course you can, they’re really cheap too, do you want one?” Not even giving Scott ample time to think and answer, Stiles runs up to the nearest storefront and slams fifteen silver eagles down on the counter. “One Voxophone for my friend from the surface please.”

“Ah, one of our newcomers from the Sodom below, just give me one moment to grab a box from the back.” The store clerk hurries through a door behind him and Scott looks over at Stiles with a look of complete shock.

“Stiles what are you doing?” Stiles looks at him like he’s grown a second head.

“What does it look like? I’m buying you a ‘Welcome to Columbia’ present. Everyone should have their own Voxophone, you’ll be laughed at if you don’t.” That puts a worried look on Scott’s face.

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, everyone has one nowadays. And just think, you’ll be the first newcomer to have one.” The clerk comes back and hands Scott the box.

“You have fun with that now, I hope you enjoy the rest of your time here.” They walk away from the storefront, Stiles excitedly hopping, and Scott carefully tucking the box under his arm.

“I can’t believe you’ve never heard of a Voxophone, that’s so weird to think about. Have you heard of vigors? Or what about the handymen? Do they have those down on the surface?” The last part confuses Scott.

“You mean like the handymen that help out around the house and fix things? Yeah of course we have those.” In receipt of his comment, Stiles gives Scott the strangest look.

“No not like that,” He pauses and runs up the street a bit, Scott following him at a slower pace to keep the box under his arm safe. Stiles points at a poster depicting a large semi-robotic man, with an exposed heart directly in the center of his chest. “A handyman like that!” He squeals excitedly.

“Oh Lord no, we don’t have anything like that, that thing looks scary.” Scott shies away from the poster a little bit, the idea of a man and machine hybrid just sounds too much like that Frankenstein novel he read in class.

“Well what about the vigors? Surely you have to have those down on the surface.” Scott just gives Stiles a confused look, completely lost in the topic of whatever Stiles was talking about.

“No way, Vigors are like one of the most amazing things ever. I can’t afford one, but oh if I could I’d wanna have Bucking Bronco.”

“Bucking whonow?” Scott is getting more confused by the second.

“Vigors are these really cool drinks that when you drink them they give you magical powers like shooting bolts of electricity or levitating things.” Scott thinks his eyes must be the size of oranges from how wide they are from hearing this. “Like Bucking Bronco you can levitate people, it’s so the coolest one out there, when I get the money, I wanna buy it.”

“You have drinks that give you magical powers?” Stiles frowns at that.

“It’s not magic, it’s science. It’s the cool kind of science that looks like magic but it isn’t, that’s the best kind of science.” Scott’s never been a fan of science, so unfortunately he asks the wrong question.

“What other kind of science is there? All science looks like magic to me.” Stiles eyes nearly bug out of his head and he starts walking again, arms flailing all around and nearly hitting passers by as people slowly begin to fill the streets for the lunch time.

“Science is all around us. Science is what keeps our city afloat, science is how we know how to put together a man and machine, science is what keeps us alive.” Stiles exclaims, throwing his hands in the air in exaltation. “Oh what I would give to have you meet Rosalind Lutece. She’s the one who flew Columbia into the sky.” He pauses only to take a breath, “With science.” Scott laughs and nods his head.

“Okay, science good, Scott being a dummy bad, gotcha.” Stiles laughs before turning to smile at Scott.

“You know, I think we’re gonna be good friends Scott.” Scott smiles, in spite of how awful he feels about being forced into Columbia, Stiles is definitely his bright spot right now.

"I imagine we will be too Stiles." Stiles offers him a wide smile, all teeth and dimples and moles and pure sunshine.

"See now that we're friends, I’ll have to show you all the cool parts of Columbia.” Scott looks over at him in excitement, eyes light up light Christmas morning.

“What could be better than this?” Scott holds up the Voxophone box and smiles. “Or this?” He gestures to the streets and buildings, seeming nearly flawless in comparison to the old tired buildings Scott is used to. “And what could be better than making a new friend?”

“Well see, I was talking about parties and things, but now that you’ve said that.” If Scott notices the tint of pink that spreads across Stiles’ cheek, he doesn’t make it known. “At any rate, we’re finally near the Skyline Junction.” Scott, by this point, has made his confusion face so many times that he’s almost certain Stiles has catalogued it under ‘Scott is a moronic surface dweller’, but almost in response to Scott’s thoughts, Stiles shakes his head.

“Now this I’m absolutely certain you don’t have down there on the surface.” Stiles pulls a mechanical contraption from a hiding spot in the gutter of a building. “Check it out.” He’s gesturing at the machine he’s pulled over his hand as if Scott has any clue what it is.

“So what exactly is that?” Stiles gives him a warm smile, friendly and genuine much like the one Scott received from the priest at the church.

“It’s called a skyhook, you can use it to travel on the skyline.” He gestures up towards a cable attached to the building next to him. “There shouldn’t be any shipments going through right now so we should be fine to go.” Stiles uses his free hand to spin the three hooks around before offering it to Scott.

“Take my hand Scott.” Once again he’s smiling that genuine warm smile, Scott’s beginning to think that maybe everyone up here just receives a class in how to smile like a pro. Regardless, he reaches out his hand and grabs Stiles’, only for Stiles to move down and grab tightly onto his wrist. “Hang on, and run.” Stiles’ warm smile quickly turns mischievous as he takes off towards the edge of the island, dragging Scott for a few seconds before Scott gets the memo and starts running too.

“Um Stiles, we’re heading for the edge.” Scott gulps as he says it, he’s suddenly unsure about this whole thing.

“Yeah, that’s the point.” Stiles extends his arm towards the cable in the air and jumps, dragging both him and Scott upwards until one of the hooks attaches to the cable and they start zooming down the line.

“Oh are you serious? This is insane!” Scott is hooting and hollering, and certainly providing Stiles some entertainment. But then he decides to quiet down and enjoy the scenery and just the amazing view. Apparently not talking and taking in the scenery is frowned upon because Stiles looks down to Scott with worry.

“Are you okay down there?” Scott give Stiles the biggest smile he thinks he’s ever made in his life.

“This is amazing!” He shouts. Unfortunately though, he makes the mistake of looking up at Stiles for just a split second and forgetting to look away. He sees the small grin on Stiles’ face, content and happy as the wind blows back his hair. The evening sun’s light is glowing on his face, filling any lines or creases and giving way to just. Stiles. And in that moment of forgetting to look away, Scott just forgets himself in Stiles. He forgets himself in the beauty of the way that the sun is streaming across Stiles’ moles in a way that should be considered sinful. And then that moment ends, and Scott shakes those thoughts from his head in time to see the Statue of Columbia in front of him once more.

Columbia’s beauty radiates as the sun slowly moves behind her to create a halo of light around the monument. “Stiles this is amazing.” Scott sounds breathless and happy and like everything that Stiles wants to have. He looks down for a moment to catch a glimpse of shining teeth and dimples.

“It really is isn’t it?” Looking ahead Stiles can see the entrance to Finkton proper fastly approaching. “Get ready to jump Scott!” Scott looks worried and scared and thrilled all at once. “Jump!” Stiles shouts.

The two of them fly through the air towards the platform, Stiles lands and rolls up onto his feet, Scott just lands with a clunk on his butt. “You’re gonna have to work on your landing there sport.” Stiles extends his hand to his seated friend, and Scott graciously accepts it and brushes himself off as he stands, taking a moment to rub his sore bottom. “I give it maybe a two out of ten.” Scott shoots him a friendly glare.

“Well I’m gonna have to get used to zooming through the air like that too.” He takes Stiles’ lead, heading towards the large doors with the name ‘Finkton’ painted across them. “So this is where we live?” And Stiles clearly pretends that Scott’s casual use of the word ‘we’ doesn’t send shivers up his spine.

“Yup, Finkton is the home to the main office of the police force, so naturally we live a few blocks down from it.” Stiles pushes the door open and passes by a line of people lined up in front of a machine. A young guard almost motions to stop him, but steps back when she gets a look at Stiles’ face.

“Stilinski, who’s this?” The guard points at Scott, clearly sizing him up in a way that visually makes Stiles more uncomfortable than it should.

“Erica, behave. This is Scott, he’s my new roomie.” Stiles casually throws an arm around Scotts shoulder and smiles at the her.

“Oh, your dad signed up on that list? Yeah my parents signed up too, apparently we’re getting some kid named Isaac for the upstairs guest room.” She extends an arm towards Scott and looks him in the eyes. “I’m Erica, nice to meet you Scott.”

The eye contact scares him, Erica exudes a presence that could make any man turn and run, her ruby lips may as well be coated in a layer of blood to complement the kind of mischievous look in her eyes. “Scott McCall.” He takes her hand in spite of his fear and shakes it a few times, but she tightens her grip as he goes to pull away.

“Don’t let me catch you doing anything illegal, I just might join you cutie.” She winks at him and he hurriedly pulls his hand back, much to her amusement. Stiles ushers him through a door marked ‘Personnel Only’.

“Just ignore the local wildlife Scott.” As the door closes, Scott can hear Erica’s laugh, full and hearty. The door shuts and her laughter fades behind the dark wood. “For now we have to get you the all-access pass to Columbia.” Stiles pulls him into a small office and rummages through the drawers before pulling out a small tripod and camera. For a moment he fiddles with some dials and switches on the side of the Camera box. “Alright, smile.”

Scott, thinking it would be foolhardy at this point to disobey, gives his best crooked grin towards the camera and seconds later a bright flash of light illuminates the darkened office. Stiles smiles back at him and pulls a small square of some sort of hard paper out of the camera. “There we go, your own personal Identification Card.” He hands the paper to Scott and Scott gasps at it. There he is, staring right back at himself on a little card marked with the words ‘Family of Police, ACCESS ALLOWED.’

“Stiles I’m not family of police though.” Stiles laughs and pats Scott on the back.

“Well yeah, but you might as well be if you’re staying in our house.” He gestures between the two of them. “Our house.” He puts emphasis on the word ‘our’ before continuing. “Plus I can’t vouch for you every time, or what if they shut down the area because of a Vox attack? Then you need to be able to get to the house right?”

Scott would agree with him, but he’s more caught up in what Stiles just said. “A Vox attack? What does that mean?” Stiles stands up and sighs before motioning for Scott to leave the office and they start walking towards a door opposite the one they entered the main room.

“The Vox are the revolutionaries of the working class. At least that’s what they say they are, they’re really just a racial revolution, which is fine for them and all, but I just wish they didn’t use the term working class you know? I mean my dad is part of the working class, and you don’t see him running off to join some ‘Revolution of the People.’” Stiles puts air quotes on the last words and shakes his head as he pushes open another door.

“Oh, yeah that makes sense.” Scott follows Stiles, listening as he rants a little bit more. Vox this and Vox that, Scott’s body loses a little bit of tension when Stiles comments that he “doesn’t care about the race thing, it’s just who’s stupid enough to hold a revolution on a floating city?” Although that makes Scott happy, he’s still looking for a way to derail the conversation from the Vox Populi.

“How close are we to home?” And he knows he’s said the right thing when Stiles turns to him and smiles widely.

“About twenty feet.” Stiles says and he points towards a building on the street corner. Walking up towards the door he produces a key from his front pocket. “Now you can just set that down right inside the door,” He motions to the Voxophone box that Scott is still carrying and has somehow managed to hold onto the whole time. “And we can go grab you some clothes with these.” He pulls a fairly large sack of silver eagles off of a desk just inside the door.

“Stiles, please that isn’t necessary.” But Stiles shakes his head and wiggles his finger as Scott sets down the Voxophone box. 

“Nope we got this sack from the program that we signed up for to give you a home.” He jingles the sack a few times before continuing. “This money is specifically for you to have a nice set of clothes and maybe other things too if we spend the money frugally.” He waggles his eyebrows at the word ‘frugally’ and it makes Scott crack up. “And when we get home, I can give you the grand tour.”

Scott smiles brightly at that, “I’d enjoy that very much.” He heads out the door and Stiles locks it behind them, quickly tossing Scott a key identical to his own.

“Here you go, a key of your very own. Now stop smiling so much, you’re face is gonna freeze that way.” Scott tries to pull his face into a scowl, but looking down at the key in his hand, he smiles again, much to Stiles’ joy. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, but don’t come crying to me when you’re stuck smiling like that forever. I ain’t gonna be able to help you out.” 

Scott sticks his tongue out towards Stiles in the most childish display of friendship he can think of. “Well maybe you want my face to get stuck in a smile, that way you can talk all the time and you don’t have to listen to me say stuff.” Stiles’ expression looks as though Scott might’ve personally offended him, except for the huge goofy smile that slowly spreads over his face. He shoves Scott goodnaturedly.

“See now I can’t imagine having to deal with you not talking.” His joking demeanor is betrayed by a soberingly serious tone, pulling Scott suddenly out of just a simple show of friendship and into a more serious show of brotherhood.

“You know, to be completely honest I can’t really imagine being here and not hearing your voice Stiles. I’m already too used to it.” He shoots Stiles his warmest smile, one of the most genuine smiles he’s given in a long time, causing Stiles’ cheeks to turn slightly pink in response.

“Aw, quit being like that, you’re makin’ me blush.” He laughs and softly punches Scott in the shoulder. “I like you too, friend.” They share a good laugh before continuing their stroll down the street. “Alrighty then, it’s time to find you some new threads.” He stops moving and gestures to the store that; unbeknownst to Scott; they had quickly made their way to.

“I’m not gonna have to wear one of those stuffy suits am I?” Scott motions to Stiles’ outfit and chuckles.

“You have to get a couple of them for formal events and such, but besides that, we need to get you some daily wear and maybe a swimming outfit or two, then you should be fine.” Stiles pushes open the door and a small bell perched just above the frame rings, signalling to the shop owners that they had new customers. “Let’s get it all done.”

Scott laughs and walks up toward the counter where a pleasant looking man with a moustache has made himself comfortable, but before he has the chance to speak, the man looks at Stiles and exclaims,“Bilinski, what are you doing here? Don’t I get enough of you during the schooling season?” Stiles jumps back in astonishment.

“Sorry about that Finstock, we just gotta get my friend here some new clothes, then we can be outta your hair.” Stiles’ statement brings the man’s attention now over to Scott.

“Is this that surface monkey you got staying up at your house?” He’s giving Scott a once over with his eyes, clearly disgusted with what he sees.

“Yes sir, this is Scott.” Stiles brings Scott over closer to him. “We’re buying him a whole new wardrobe.”

“Well hurry on up and get what you need so you can leave me be.” The man says, disgruntled. Scott and Stiles walk towards the back corner of the shop, Scotts ears picking up ‘Fucking Sodomites.’ being muttered behind him. 

Scott’s trying to let it go as Stiles starts holding clothes up against his chest, but it’s eating at him a little bit. “Stiles,” he whispers, making sure that the man behind the counter can’t hear what he’s saying. Stiles head snaps upwards and their eyes meet. “Why is he so mad at me?” Stiles sighs softly and offers an apologetic look.

“A lot of people around here are generally kind and don’t mind what you do in your time as long as you’re kind in return.” He motions with his thumb over at Finstock. “But unfortunately some people are more like him, and they don’t care how nice you are if you’re a sinner.” He looks down toward the ground. “Since you come from the surface, those people aren’t going to take as kindly to you once they learn that about you.” The look on his face is a bit sad and he grimaces up through his eyelashes. “I’m sorry Scott, I didn’t even think about it before we came here.” But Scott smiles at him, slightly pained that he’s making Stiles feel bad.

“It’s fine Stiles, you shouldn’t feel bad about it, we’ll just be more careful about who I’m near in the future okay?” That brings a smile to Stiles’ face as he piles another vest onto Scott’s ever-growing pile of clothing. 

“This should probably do it, you should probably try on a few just to make sure they fit, and make sure you try on one of the swimming outfits because a loose swimming outfit is awful and a tight one is sinful.” Scott laughs and heads through the door in the back of the shop.

A few moments later he pops his head back through the door. “Aren’t you gonna come in and make sure that I don’t look foolish?” Stiles gulps and moves forward.

“Yeah sure, I hadn’t even thought,” he pauses for a moment. “Yeah sure I’ll come in.” Stiles pushes through the door behind Scott, where Scott is already sans shirt, and Stiles is pretty sure that his mouth couldn’t be drier even if you placed it under the city’s propulsion rockets. In spite of that, he quickly sits down, legs crossed and motions towards the pile of clothing. “Well you need to start trying them on.” Scott laughs for a moment.

“You know I thought I’d just stand here half naked for a while.” His voice is clearly laden with endearing sarcasm, but Stiles doesn’t pick up on that because the moment that Scott says the word naked, his brain short circuits like an unreliable Shock Jockey terminal.

Scott strips off his pants and quickly pulls on a pair of khaki colored pants; much to Stiles’ relief; before picking up a roll-sleeved sweater and a vest and quickly slipping them on over his toned stomach. “How does this look?” Stiles looks up from his hands.

“Oh that looks.” He pauses and every word he’s ever learned suddenly evacuates his brain. Scott looks disappointed.

“I look like a fool don’t I?” He starts to tug at the bottom of the vest when Stiles puts his hand out, fingers splayed.

“No, it looks great. That means all the clothes fit too because I picked out the same sizes.” Scott grins down towards him and laughs.

“That’s good, I really don’t like clothes shopping and that means we can get out of here all the more quickly.” He starts tugging off the vest and sweater, and the way that the white fabric slides over his tanned skin should be sinful, at least that’s what Stiles thinks. “Looks like I just have to try on the swimsuit.” He unbuttons his pants and pulls them down, causing Stiles’s face to redden and a feeling to swirl through his stomach as an all-too-familiar sensation causes his own pants to tighten slightly. He looks down quickly, trying to avoid getting any sight of the near naked body in front of him.

Only the sound of Scott’s voice brings his face back up. “How does it look?” And in response, Stiles’s pants tighten just a little bit more, and he isn’t exactly sure if it is any better than seeing Scott in his underwear. The blue, striped material is clinging to Scott’s skin and Stiles swears he’s going to have a heart attack at the sight.

“That looks good, now while you get dressed, I’m gonna go up to Finstock and pay for everything so we can get out of here.” Stiles gulps and stands up before hurriedly walking out of the fitting room.

Approaching the counter he catches sight of his former teacher, causing anything that was stirring in his pants or stomach to automatically stop and reverse. “Alright Finstock, we got two suits, eight complete outfits, and two sets of swimwear, what’s the damage?” The man behind the counter punches a few buttons on the register and it makes a ‘Ding’ sound. 

“Looks like the total comes up to one hundred and fifty.” Stiles pulls out the satchel filled with money and places eight of the coin rolls onto the counter.

“That should cover it.” He forces a polite smile up at Finstock before turning around to head to the door of the shop, where Scott is already waiting for him.

“Better watch your ass Bilinski, you never know what those surface dwellers will do when you aren’t looking.” Stiles turns around, clearly fuming in anger.

“Fuck you Finstock, that’s my friend you’re talking about there, so you better shut the fuck up before I get my Dad in here on suspicions that you’re a Vox Supporter.” He points a finger at Finstock, and the man looks genuinely frightened, a look that Stiles is relishing as Scott pulls him out into the open street.

“Stiles you didn’t need to do that.” Stiles is still mad, his fists clenching and unclenching as he and Scott start the short journey back to the house. 

“He was being really rude. Talking so awfully about you, he doesn’t even know you.” Stiles’ voice is slowly rising until the last words are practically shouted. He approaches the front door and pushes the key into the lock and turns it, slamming open the door in the last display of his anger before finally sighing and leaning against the door as he pushes it shut. “I’m sorry about that. I shouldn’t have reacted that way.” But Scott just gives him a big sympathetic smile.

“That was really kind of you Stiles, I’m very thankful.” Scott drops the clothing bags to the ground before slinging an arm over Stiles’ shoulder as they slowly slide down the wall to the ground. “No one’s ever really stood up for me like that. Even my dad didn’t really care if people treated me bad.” Stiles shoots up to standing position.

“Speaking of dads, mine is going to be home any minute!” He exclaims, grabbing Scott’s bags off the ground and running up the stairs. Scott is smiling at his hyperactivity when he looks up to see Stiles head poking down past the wall. “By the way, I’ll always be here to stand up for you, that’s what friends are for.” And he smiles before continuing his trek up the stairs.

Scott laughs and picks up the Voxophone box still sitting next to the foyer desk and begins to head up the stairs, calling out, “Stiles, I don’t even know where our room is!” From down the hall he hears Stiles’ voice echoing.

“Second door on the right!” Scott follows the shouted instructions and turns into the room. It’s an average sized room, with two beds against opposite walls, a very large dresser against the wall between the headboards, and a simple rug on the ground. Scott can appreciate the simplicity of the decoration, and he can also appreciate that Stiles’ side of the walls is covered in photographs and articles, all connected to each other by red yarn, pinned to the tops or bottoms of the sheets of papers. 

“Oh, ignore all of that,” Stiles motions to all of the papers, “So the top 2 drawers are yours, I kinda already put all of the clothes in there just because my Dad will probably expect us to be all cleaned up and such for dinner when he gets home.” Scott laughs.

“That’s awesome, thanks friend.” Scott is about to continue when the sound of the front door opening echoes through the halls.

“Stiles!” The voice shouts up the stairs, “Are you two home?” Stiles jumps off of the bed and dashes to the door, shouting a reply.

“Yeah Pops, we’ll be down in a second!” Stiles slips off his shoes and motions for Scott to do the same before zipping out of the room and sliding on the wooden floors, smacking into the wall. Scott laughs as he stands up off the bed and; exiting the room; pads down the hallway and descends the stairs, closely followed by Stiles.

At the bottom of the stairs stands a man in a blue uniform that Scott assumes is Stiles’ dad. Scott offers his hand to shake, but the man just pulls him into a hug, “We don’t play that handshaking game in this house son, while you’re under this roof, you’re family.” Scott and the man separate after a moment and he claps a hand on Scott’s shoulder. 

“The name’s John, you can call me that or any other name you can come up with, you can even call me dad if you feel like it.“ His smile is warm and genuine and Scott is one hundred percent positive that Stiles inherited his smile from his father. “You must be Scott, I’m sorry that I couldn’t pick you up from the Church, I had to do some stuff at work.” Scott shakes his head and smiles up at John. 

“No need to apologize sir, I had a lot of fun with Stiles today.” Almost as if Stiles had predicted what Scott was going to say, he casually throws an arm around Scott’s shoulder as he talks.

“Yeah dad, we’re already the best of friends, inseparable, joined at the hip like those freaky twin people we saw at the circus when I was a kid.” The man cocks an eyebrow at Stiles but smiles nonetheless. He holds up a big cardboard box that smells like heaven in a way that Scott knows all too well.

“How do you boys feel about pizza for dinner tonight?” Stiles and Scott push each other out of the way, scrambling down the hall towards what Scott can see is the kitchen/dining room. They both take a seat and wait as they hear John laughing, slowly entering the room and setting the box down on the counter before grabbing plates and glasses from a cupboard. 

“Do you like soda pop Scott?” To which Scott nods vigorously, causing the two Stilinskis to laugh. “Well, that’s good.”

The sheriff sets down the plates and glasses before taking his own seat and reaching out his hands toward the two teens. Scott grabs the man’s hand and extends his own towards Stiles, who grasps it slowly, his smooth skin sliding over Scott’s callouses and sending a shot of electricity straight through Scott’s body and down to a spot under the table.

Scott’s mind can’t even process what John is saying, he only briefly registers the word “Amen” before he lets go of his surrogate father’s hand and slides his hand out of Stiles’, trying to feel that jolt of electricity between them one more time before he settles down to eat some pizza.

He and Stiles lock eyes for a moment before scrambling to get the largest piece out of the box. John only chuckles and waits for the teenager storm to subside, eventually reaching in and grabbing two slices to set on his plate. 

“I’ve got some paperwork to do,” He calls back to the boys, picking up his plate and glass and retreating from the kitchen. “Don’t kill each other, and clean up the mess before you head up to your room.”

Stiles and Scott look at each other for a moment before simultaneously bursting out into bouts of laughter, bits of pizza falling out of their mouths. The sight of each other only causes them to laugh more, and several minutes pass before they can calm down enough to swallow their food.

The rest of their meal is passed in relative silence, only a muffled grunt of happiness over the pizza occasionally breaks the quiet. Upon Stiles finishing his last slice he stands up. 

“That’s some good pizza,” he hums. Scott finishes his last slice seconds later and nods in agreement. He picks up both of their plates before walking to the sink and starting to rinse off the dishes.

“No you don’t need to do that.” And Stiles walks up behind him, sliding the dishes out of his hands and putting them up in a metallic cabinet above the sink. Scott’s brain is fried with Stiles body so close to his. At that moment Stiles steps back. “We have one of those new automatic dishwashers.” He explains before placing the pizza box in the trash can. 

“Upstairs roomie?” He gestures to the hall and Scott happily walks down the hall and dashed up the stairs and into their room, closely followed by his friend.

“We should probably change into night clothes.” The moment he says it, Stiles looks like he wants to slap himself across the face. “We forgot to buy you night clothes, and the only shop that’d be open right now is Finstock’s.” He buries his face in his hands, “God, I’m stupid, I should’ve thought about that.” 

Scott walks over and puts a hand on Stiles’ head. “It’s alright,” he laughs, “I can sleep in underwear tonight, unless that makes you uncomfortable or something?” That makes Stiles’ head snap up.

“No I’m not uncomfortable, that’s actually how I normally sleep, I just figured you would be more comfortable if we had sleep clothes or something.” They both laugh awkwardly.

“Well it looks like we’re fine then,” Scott laughs before stripping his shirt off. Stiles pulls off his tie and jacket before taking off his own shirt. Scott turns towards his bed, trying to avoid seeing Stiles in his underwear, much in the same way Stiles had when he saw Scott nearly naked earlier.

When his pants are off, Scott spins around to turn off the light switch only to catch a full frontal view of Stiles standing in his underwear. He forces himself to look away and walks over to flip the lights off, breathing a small sigh of relief when he can no longer see his roommate in a near naked state.

Scott pads over to his bed and pulls himself under the covers, turning over a few times to properly wrap himself up and protect him from the bite of the cool night air. Rolling over, he faces towards Stiles’s bed, and by extension, Stiles. ”Thanks for standing up for me earlier Stiles, I know I said it already but it really means a lot to me.” Even in the darkness he can see Stiles’ face spread into a wide smile.

“Of course. Besides, it wasn’t just you he was being an asshole about.” Stiles yawns and rolls over to face the wall. “Good night Scott.”

Scott wants to ask Stiles what he’s talking about, but he can already hear light snoring coming from the other side of the room. “Sweet dreams Stiles.” He whispers, continuing to face in the direction of the other boy’s bed.

It’s an hour or so before Scott’s eyes become completely accustomed to the darkness and he can see the room clearly. On the opposite side of the room, he sees Stiles splayed out on top of his covers, one leg hanging off the bed. His mouth is hanging slightly open and he’s still quietly snoring. Scott chuckles at that, because of course Stiles can’t be quiet, even when he’s asleep. Scott smiles at him before he thinks about what Stiles said before he fell asleep.

Finstock’s words are running through his head again and again. “Better watch your ass, you never know what those surface dwellers will do when you’re not looking.” Scott swallows roughly, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach that maybe that angry man had been correct.

At some point, John knocks on the door to make sure that they’re asleep, and pulls Scott out of his thoughts, causing him to look over at Stiles’ sleeping form. And in that moment, he smiles, suddenly not caring about what the angry older man behind the counter had said. He can do whatever he wants, be whoever he wants, and if Scott decides anything, it’s that he can certainly fall in love with whomever he chooses. 

And if he chooses Stiles, well more accurately, if his heart chooses Stiles, then he definitely isn’t going to argue with that.


	2. Chapter 2

_He’s rutting his hips forward and back, vaguely aware of the body under him moaning his name in ecstasy. He feels full and empty all at the same time, a tanned and calloused hand sliding over his aching length, slick with precum. He moves to hold those tan hands up against the headboard, leaning down to press a kiss along that crooked jaw, moving up quickly to capture a pink lip in his teeth. He’s pretty sure that earned him a groan of some sort, but his brain is too fried to sort through the sounds in the room._

_The creaking of the wooden bed._

_The rough sound of his ass sliding against someone else’s hips._

_The sound of an airship flying outside, its roar momentarily drowning out his own thoughts as he moves forward again and again._

_His elbows drop on either side of the body under him and he collapses, still moving his hips but unable to support his weight, his arms feeling like gelatin. He’s vaguely aware of those calloused hands grabbing onto his ass and his hips starting to thrust slowly as he continues his rhythm, his body refusing to stop because of the sheer pleasure his crotch is getting from rubbing over the other's sweat coated stomach._

_The other body continues to thrust, and he feels the hands ghost up his back, settling on the back of his head with long fingers tangling in his hair, pulling their faces together into a sloppy kiss, all tongues and open lips. He’s pretty sure that half of his chin is wet now, which for some reason sends a jolt of energy down towards his crotch._

_In the heat of the moment, he’s flipped over, his back on top of the already damp sheets._

_It only takes a few seconds for his body to start screaming at him, chastising him for thinking that anything other than this position was a good idea, every thrust into him shooting bursts of adrenaline and pleasure through his veins, his heart thudding loudly in his ears as he leans his head back to let out a long moan._

_The noise elicits a reaction from the tan body above him, causing it to crash down on top of him, sweaty chests slamming together with a clap. That doesn’t stop the thrusting though; if anything, the change in angle only causes an increase in pleasure for the both of them, and he can feel the speed of every movement increasing, the friction on his dick driving his body’s pleasure sensors through the roof._

_The face curled into his neck starts to nip at the tender flesh, making him moan, prompting the nips to turn to hard bites, which makes him cry out in pleasure, calling for more. The teeth on his skin willingly oblige him and start leaving a trail of red marks along his neck and collarbone.  
He can feel the body above him adjust, and the very next thrust hits something within him that causes him to call out all sorts of expletives that he’s pretty sure can get him arrested in public. Taking the hint, the body manages to make every following thrust hit the same spot, the pleasure coursing through his veins from the feeling, shooting directly to the part of him trapped between the two sweaty stomachs. He can feel himself being pulled closer and closer towards the precipice. _

_Only a few seconds later he tumbles over the edge, every muscle in his body to contract. Nearly simultaneously, the body above him shudders and reaches its own peak, collapsing its weight onto him._

_“Fuck, Scott.” he whispers into the ear just a few inches from his mouth._

_“I could say the same to you.” Scott leans his head up to flash a bright grin before kissing Stiles again._

Stiles jolts up in bed, his crotch wet. Thankfully, the room; as if God is looking out for him; is still shrouded in the darkness of night. When he looks at the dimly light clock display, he sees that it is nearly morning, so in favor of not getting caught with his cum-stained underwear, he quietly exits the room and heads down the hallway to the shower.

He strips off his still slightly-wet shorts and shuts the door, turning towards the curtain to pull it aside. He’s unsure whether he should set the water at maximum heat to clean himself off, or to maximum cold to clean off his thoughts. After a few moments of deliberation, he sets the water temperature to the hottest level possible and steps under the spray.

“Fuck.” The word echoes through the room, not as much a reaction to the water, as it is to the situation he is currently in. He could chalk it up to what that stupid bigot Finstock said the previous day, if it weren’t for the fact that multiple times yesterday he found himself looking at Scott the same way he used to look at Erica, feeling the same uncomfortable tightness in his groin.

He shakes his head and the already cooling water flicks off of his hair. There’s no possible way he has any feelings for Scott, either physical or emotional, that’s just not how God built him, is it? But then if it isn’t the way that God built him, why does his body react so strongly to Scotts presence? 

Maybe God built him for Scott then.

The second the thought crosses his mind, his entire body freezes and he feels as though he may vomit. What would his dad think? He couldn’t care any less about other people’s opinions, but his own father? He has no idea how his father would react to the idea, the man may be fairly liberal for this city, but Stiles very seriously doubts that he could be that liberal, especially in matters concerning his own son.

Banging his forehead against the tiled wall, he resolves that before he even dares to imagine his father’s or anyone else’s reactions, he deals with Scott's reaction first. In his mental crisis, Stiles hasn’t even thought about how Scott will feel when presented with this information. 

... If presented with this information. Yeah. If. Who says Stiles has to tell him, or anyone else for that matter, about what’s going on in his head. People aren’t usually able to understand half of the things he says anyway, he might as well keep his mouth shut about this whole thing, whatever exactly this thing is.

This whole “Kind Of Falling In Love With Scott” thing. Yeah, that’s what it is. And that’s what it’s going to stay as far as Stiles is concerned. It’s going to stay in his head and it’s never going to reach its final stage. Letting out a loose sigh, he slides down the wall, finally coming to a halt with his naked bottom on the floor tiles. The naked bottom that he most certainly wants Scott to be on. In. In, on, what’s really the difference in this context? Stiles knows that there’s a difference but refusing to acknowledge it will at least help him to maintain the whole facade of not being interested in Scott as anything more than a friend and roommate.

A sly smile crosses his face. He can totally pull this off, he’s Stiles Stilinski after all, the King of “Pretending Everything is Fine”. 

With that, he turns off the lukewarm water, pushing aside the curtain and stepping into the steam filled air. He runs a towel over his hair before wrapping it around his waist. His now-dry yet still stained underwear are still lying on the bathroom tile, and he picks them up and tosses them into the dirty laundry bin in the corner of the bathroom.

Stepping out barefoot onto the wooden floor, the cold air flows over him, carrying with it the sound of his father downstairs, grabbing his keys off of the desk next to the door. “Stiles, I know you’re up there.” His father calls up, and Stiles silently curses his luck for being born to a police officer parent.

“Yeah dad?” He approaches the top of the stairs, making sure the towel is snug across his waist. “What is it?” His father looks up at him and runs a hand through his hair. 

“I’m gonna be out all day, they’re setting up all the plans and such for the Raffle tomorrow so I have to supervise everything.” 

Stiles nods, he had forgotten that the Raffle was tomorrow, mostly because he has a certain distaste for it, especially now that he’s talked to Scott about how races are like on the surface. 

His father continues, “Take Scott out and show him some of the sights, alright?”

A breath hitches in Stiles’ throat but he quickly swallows it down. “Of course, I’ll take him out to Soldier’s field or something.” He forces a smile onto his face, but his dad isn’t buying it.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Stiles.” He points up at his son before turning towards the door and opening. “And don’t get yourselves caught when you blatantly disobey me.” Stiles can see his dad let out a small breath of a laugh before shutting the door, not even waiting for Stiles’ response.

Stiles starts to tiptoe towards his and Scott’s room, trying to avoid waking Scott up so he can get dressed without being observed, or at least pull on a fresh pair of underwear. He makes a mental note that he should probably bring his clean underwear into the bathroom with him when he goes for showers from now on, it isn’t that he’s bad with nudity; he’s even cool with taking showers at school; it’s just that he thinks Scott and nudity shouldn’t mix, at least for his own sanity.

The door squeaks a little bit when he presses it open, but he can see that Scott is still asleep, splayed across his bed. The sunlight is starting to filter through the shades on his window, and as it flows over Scott’s bare chest, Stiles makes an inner prayer to Jefferson that he can gain the knowledge to overcome this.

He turns toward the dresser and tugs open the third drawer, quickly pulling out a pair of underwear and dropping his towel. He hears a sharp intake of breath from the opposite end of the room and freezes, looking over to see Scott sitting up on his own bed, having somehow managed to wake up and sit up in the last few seconds without Stiles noticing. He pulls up his underwear as quick as possible. 

“Holy shit, I’m sorry," Stiles quickly apologizes, "I thought you were still sleeping.”

Scott shakes his head. “You’re fine, it just wasn’t what I was expecting to wake up to.” He laughs and flashes Stiles a smile, bringing back that sudden feeling of butterflies in his stomach. Trying to play it off, he offers a laugh back, but he knows that it sounds insincere the moment it passes his lips. “Um, so what’s the plan today, Stiles?”

At the mention of his name, scattered flashes of moans and sweat stream through Stiles’ mind, which he quickly shakes off and gives Scott a genuine smile. 

“Well I figured that we could head up to Soldier’s Field and have some fun.” He’s certain that his smile is genuine now because he’s actually really excited. Stiles absolutely loves Soldier’s Field. He doesn’t even care that he outgrew it years ago; between the rides and cotton candy and the ferris wheel, he loves every last bit of it.

“What’s Soldier’s Field?” Scott’s head tilts as he stands from his bed, clearly unaware of the tent still half-formed in his underwear. Stiles, however, is completely aware of it and turns to rummage in his drawers to find a casual outfit. 

“It’s like.” He has to think for a second as he pulls out a pair of pants. “An amusement park.” He laughs. “But it’s not just for kids, there’s plenty of cool stuff that we can do while we’re there, and we can ride in the First Lady and then go on the Ferris Wheel when they test the fireworks for the Raffle tonight and it’ll be amazing.” He throws his hands in the air in excitement, standing up to pull his pants on. To his relief, the tent in Scott’s underwear has died down and Scott’s grinning at him. 

“That sounds great.” Scott almost squeals in excitement and Stiles is pretty sure that it is the absolute cutest thing he’s ever seen in his seventeen years of existing. 

Scott pulls open his drawers and searches around until he finds the outfit that he tried on yesterday, the very same outfit that nearly made Stiles drool in the fitting room. Quickly, Scott dresses himself, and Stiles thinks he may never have felt so relieved to see someone putting clothing on.

He pulls out a button up shirt and rolls up the long sleeves before sliding it on over his head and tucking it in. He grabs a tie off of the chest of drawers and loops it around his neck quickly, tying while he talks. 

“So I figure we can zoom around on the Skylines for a bit, and then we can head over to The Field and grab lunch before we start riding the rides and taking in the sights.” Stiles is pretty sure that he’s practically vibrating with excitement. He hasn’t been to Soldiers Field in at least five years.

Scott smiles at him before pulling on his shoes and dashing out into the hall. “Let’s go then, it’s Skyline time!” He shouts back to Stiles and Stiles laughs because he can hear the excitement in Scott’s voice.

“One second!” He calls back as he hears Scott hopping down the stairs. Stiles pulls a Voxophone out from under his bed and presses the record button before leaning in towards the microphone. 

“Definitely falling in love, shit," he whispers into the mic before releasing the button and stashing the recorded diary back under his bed. He runs out into the hall and down the stairs, only to run straight into Scott who is standing by the door, bouncing up and down like an excited toddler.

“C’mon Stiles, let’s go ride the Skyline!” He grabs Stiles’ arm and pushes him out the door, and Stiles can hear the lock click behind him and he turns to see Scott holding out the Skyhook towards him. 

“Here, now let’s go!” He is nearly yelling in excitement, and Stiles only has a moment to process it before Scott grabs his hand and takes off towards the elevator door out from Finkton into Greater Columbia. Once inside the elevator, Scott slams his hand against the button and the glass doors shut. 

“Calm down Scott,” Stiles laughs, “You’re gonna break something.” 

Scott stops bouncing, but Stiles can tell that he is clearly excited to ride the lines again. Stiles was the same way the first few times he rode the Skyline, but now it’s just become the norm for him, so he doesn’t really carry the same level of excitement that Scott does.

As soon as the elevator ‘dings’ and the clear doors open, Scott grabs his hand again and runs straight for the doors, right past Erica, who Stiles can see is trying to stifle her laughter. He shoots her a dirty look before looking back forward to Scott who has almost reached the jump point. How this walk took them so long from the lines to the Finkton doors yesterday, Stiles isn’t quite sure, but he’s thankful that it didn’t take quite as long today. 

“Come on, let’s go.” Scott gives Stiles a wide smile, all teeth and sunshine, and Stiles is certain that if he had held any reservations about using the Skylines before, they were certainly all gone now that he knew they could make Scott smile this much. He’s pretty sure that he would do anything for that smile now.

He fastens the Skyhook on his arm and grabs Scott’s wrist. They both take off towards the ledge and Stiles extends his arm up at the line and leaps towards it, the magnetic pull dragging both of them upwards until suddenly they’re flying down the line. Stiles can hear Scott hooting and hollering down below him and he smiles. But then he makes the mistake of looking down at Scott. And he just can not look away.

The wind is tousling Scott’s hair and his eyes are closed, a huge smile pressed onto his face. He looks so completely, utterly happy. Stiles is so distracted by the sight that he doesn’t notice the storage crates coming towards them until he hears a creak and, when he looks up, sees several crates coming straight for them. 

“Shit, hold on Scott!”

He nudges the button on the grip with his thumb and the hook switches over lines and head away from the boxes. Scott doesn’t even care, he’s just holding on to Stiles arm and yelling “Woohoo!” at the top of his lungs. To make sure they stay clear of the boxes; he swears that’s what it is, it’s totally not for Scott at all; Stiles flips the speed dial with his thumb and they start moving faster down the line, the scenery near them becoming a blur.

Stiles looks down quickly and smiles for a moment, he knows he can’t become distracted again like he was a moment ago, but he just wants to admire Scott’s ecstatic smile that’s spread from cheek to cheek, dimple to dimple. Stiles looks back up and smiles widely, enjoying the moment as the wind rushes over his face and the symphony of excited cries from below him manages to overpower the sound of the air flying past his ears.

Unfortunately for Stiles, he spots the jump point up ahead of them. 

“Get ready to jump Scott!” He shouts down to his companion. He slows down their speed a little bit to make it easier for the both of them. “Alright, jump!” 

The two of them fly through the air towards the stone street. This time, Stiles sees Scott land on his feet, crouching, then moving to standing. Stiles, just like yesterday lands and rolls up onto his feet. He does it to show off, and he knows it works everytime. 

He turns back towards Scott and smiles. “I’m guessing you enjoyed yourself?” He pulls the Skyhook off of his forearm and puts it into a police locker near the street corner. He laughs when he turns back towards Scott to find him nodding vigorously. “Okay puppy, let’s start walking.” 

He hears Scott laugh as he turns around, heading in the direction of the Field. There’s about an hour until lunchtime, and he’s really starting to get a craving for a hot dog. Right on time, Stiles’ stomach growls loudly. Scott pats his hand on Stiles’ abdomen and Stiles freezes. 

“Yeah, I’m pretty hungry too, don’t worry,“ he says. Stiles doesn’t understand how someone can act so cute and look so damn attractive at the same time.

Stiles looks up ahead and sees the sign for Soldier’s Field. He’s sure that Scott saw it too because he suddenly starts to run forward. 

“C’mon Stiles, hurry up!” He shouts, and Stiles laughs and runs after him, taking long strides to catch up with his excited friend.

“Remember, food first.” Scott nods and starts to slow down. “I’m starved.” Stiles pats his stomach, briefly thinking about how Scott’s hands were just there a minute ago. He shakes the thought off quickly as they approach a hot dog stand. Putting a few eagles on the cracked wood, he looks at the stand worker. “Um, I’ll have two dogs, and cover them in ketchup.” He smiles over at Scott. “What do you want?”

The look on Scott’s face tells Stiles that he barely registers the question. “Scott, what do you want?” He snaps his fingers in front of Scott’s face. “Hey, Scotty, you in there?” Scott shakes his head and points behind Stiles. 

Stiles turns around just as Scott speaks, “I want that for lunch.” Stiles starts laughing; right behind him is the ice cream parlor.

“Scott, I don’t think you can eat just ice cream for lunch.” Scott shakes his head again.

“You can if you eat enough of it.” Scott’s nodding and for a moment, Stiles swears that he must be a small child in a teenager costume, but then he remembers exactly how good Scott looked in that swimsuit and shakes the thought from his head. He has to give it to Scott; he certainly knows how to enjoy himself.

“You two have fun.” The hotdog vendor hands Stiles his hot dogs, and Stiles can’t even utter a thank you before Scott is dragging him into the parlor, sitting Stiles down at a table before walking up to the counter.

Stiles can hear him at the counter, looking up at the menu and pointing at various types of sundaes, asking as many questions as possible. After about four minutes of this, Stiles chuckles at the exasperated look on the face of the man behind the counter. 

“I think I’ll get that one.” Scott points his finger at the biggest and most expensive sundae on the menu. He calls back over his shoulder to Stiles. “You may need to help me out with this one buddy!” Stiles would laugh but he has a huge amount of hotdog in his mouth and he doesn’t want to look as ridiculous as his friend at the counter.

Scott remains at the counter, watching the man make his sundae with a mystified look on his face. The man puts the huge glass bowl on the counter and places two spoons in the ice cream.

Scott throws his eagles on the counter, “Thank you for answering all my questions, sir.” As he picks up his sundae, Stiles is pretty sure he flashed that award-winning smile of his, because the man behind the counter is grinning from ear to ear as Scott walks back towards Stiles’ table.

“No problem.” The man answers, going over to answer another customer’s question. Scott sets the huge bowl down on the counter and hands Stiles a spoon just as he finishes his second hotdog.

“Are you ready for this?” Scott gives him a lopsided grin, obviously eager to start eating but waiting for Stiles’ response anyways. No one’s ever chosen Stiles over ice cream before and if he wasn’t already falling in love, he definitely would be now.

“You mean ready to get a heart attack? I sure am!” Stiles digs his spoon into the ice cream and puts it in his mouth, smiling around the spoon as he looks at Scott who is doing the same. Pulling the spoon out he exclaims, “This is delicious!”

“Thank you!” the man behind the counter answers, and the boys both give him a thumbs up before returning to the ice cream in front of them. For the next few minutes, the only sounds to be heard are the slurps from the ice cream and the small moans of happiness as they both reach the hot fudge.

“Okay, I’ll give this one to you.” Stiles says in between bites, and Scott looks up at him confused, spoon hanging out of his mouth. “You can most definitely eat ice cream for lunch.” Scott laughs before they both go back to attacking the quickly shrinking sundae.

“You know, it’s actually really funny.” Scott pauses his assault on his sundae and looks at Stiles, who meets his gaze with the same confused expression that Scott held just a few moments ago. “I kinda thought an amusement park would be boring, but then I saw how excited you got, and I figured it would be fun even if the park was boring.” Stiles tilts his head, he really hopes that Scott isn’t about to say what he thinks he’s about to say. “You know, because we get to spend the day together.” 

That’s exactly what Stiles was hoping that Scott wasn’t going to say. His words shoot straight into Stiles’ heart like a bolt of ice, freezing him to the spot. He has no idea how he’s going to reply to that without telling Scott exactly what he’s trying not to tell him.

“Well I guess you already know that I was excited about coming here,” Stiles says, allowing Scott to laugh a little bit before continuing, “I guess getting to share it with you just makes it even better.” 

That’s a safe answer, Stiles thinks. It could mean a multitude of things, and from the bright smile spreading across Scott’s face, one of those things must be exactly what Scott wanted to hear. He digs a spoon into the ice cream and looks back down, the smile staying on his face as Stiles sits there for a moment, taking in Scott’s happiness.

“You better hurry up or I’m gonna finish this thing without you.” Scott looks up at Stiles through his eyelashes and his friend smiles back.

“You sure won’t!” Stiles exclaims, and digs his spoon into a mass of vanilla and nuts. But like all good things, the sundae eventually starts coming to an end until there’s only one bite left. 

“You can have it, it’s your sundae.” Stiles nods at the bit of ice cream left in the bowl.

“You sure?” Stiles laughs and nods. Scott nervously looks around the empty room before scooping the last bit of ice cream on the spoon and pushing it towards Stiles’ mouth. “I want you to have it.” He says it as though he’s bestowing Stiles with a great honor and Stiles laughs.

He opens his mouth and Scott puts the spoon in, laughing a little bit. “There you go.” He lets go of the spoon and looks at Stiles for a second before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“What? What is it?” Stiles pulls the spoon out of his mouth and Scott just points at him, still laughing.

“You... you’ve got... ice cream. On your-” he just keeps laughing, Stiles rubs a napkin on his mouth.

“Did I get it?” Scott puts a hand over his mouth and shakes his head.

“Here, let me get it.” Scott reaches out a finger and swipes it over Stiles’ nose before putting it in his mouth. “Mmm, chocolate.” Stiles can feel the red spread across his cheeks as he stands up.

“Um,” he coughs, “I need to use the restroom.”

He quickly walks over towards the restroom, pushing the door open and stepping inside to face the mirror. The Stiles looking back at him is standing there, open mouthed and completely red in the face at what just happened. He shouldn't be embarrassed, it was just a little friendly gesture is all, but saying that to himself a million times in his head as his blush finally starts to fade doesn’t make his stomach any less floppy, or his heart any less fluttery than it is in this moment. Is fluttery even a word? He’s pretty sure it is. Even if it isn’t, it should be, because that’s exactly what his heart it doing. It’s fluttering around in his chest.

He knows he needs to go back outside, because if he doesn’t come out, then Scott is bound to come in, and he really does not want to be in an enclosed area with Scott right now. He takes a deep breath to calm himself and pushes the door open to come face-to-face with a worried looking Scott.

“Are you alright buddy?” Scott places a hand on Stiles’ shoulder and Stiles has to ignore both the urge to take the hand in his own and the urge to push the hand off his shoulder, as well as the urge to push Scott away and run forever, away from all the nonsense rolling through his heart and head. His legs are frozen, so he guesses that option three is definitely a no-go. To be fair, even if his legs weren’t frozen, he knows that even though he only met Scott yesterday, running away from him would break Stiles’ heart.

“I’m fine Scotty, don’t worry.” He smiles, and he knows the second that it forms on his face, that it probably looks ridiculously fake. Scott drops his hand off of Stiles’ shoulder, and although Stiles’ mind is thankful for small blessings, his crotch is definitely not.

“Okay, I just got worried is all. I don’t know if I could survive living up here...” Scott pauses for a moment, taking in a deep inhale. “... If I didn’t have you as a friend.” A friend. The word shouldn’t make Stiles feel as hollow as it does.

“The best of friends.” Stiles replies. His heart sinks in his chest a little bit; the idea of just being friends is simultaneously both enough and nowhere near enough. “Now c’mon, we have tons of stuff to do.” He smiles and grabs Scott’s hand and pulls him out the door, silently cursing himself for doing so.

He and Scott run straight down the walk, right up until the moment he crashes into a man in a Dimwit costume. “Don’t be a Dimwit,” the man in the costume laughs, “watch where you’re going.” Stiles stands up and laughs, patting the guy on the chest.

“Sorry buddy.” And he’s about to walk away when the man in the costume stops him.

“Wait up Stilinski, where do you think you’re going?” Stiles knows that voice, he knows that he knows that voice, but he can’t place it. “What, can’t recognize me with the mask on? Well, I’m on break, so let’s chill while you introduce me to your new friend here.” Stiles pulls Scott over to follow the Dimwit actor.

“Stiles, why did this guy call you a Dimwit? Do I need to hit him?” Stiles laughs and shakes his head, patting Scott on the chest.

“No Scott, that’s his character, you know, ‘Remember kids, don’t be a Dimwit!’” He laughs, and the man in the huge bobblehead just shakes his fake head in front of them.

“Stilinski, I swear you are just a child in a teenager’s body.” 

Scott laughs. “Then I guess he and I are made for each other. He says that about me all the time.” Stiles gasps, then coughs to try and cover it up, failing miserably.

“Made for each other huh?” The man takes off his mask and Stiles starts laughing uncontrollably. 

“Jackson fucking Whittemore,” he says incredulously before taking a huge breath to calm himself down. “You’re the one playing Dimwit? Oh Lord in Heaven, I must have died because this is too good to be true.” Jackson shakes his head. 

“You know, it pays pretty well, and the ladies like a guy who’s good with kids.” He waggles his eyebrow, making Stiles laugh again. “Not that you would care what the ladies like.” Jackson motions to Scott who, during the course of the conversation, had wandered over to the actor who plays Duke to chat.

Stiles shakes his head and holds up his hands, “Whoa Jackson, it’s not like that between me and Scott, I’m not-” But Jackson holds up a hand to silence him.

“Listen Stilinski, I ain’t really your friend, but I’ve known you since we were in diapers. I know what it looks like when you want to get carnal with some chick.” He laughs. “You used to look at my girlfriend that way.”

“Jackson.” But Jackson just puts a hand on his shoulder. 

“Stilinski, you listen to me and you listen good. People around here aren’t fans of that sort of… thing.” He looks over at Scott, who is in a deep conversation with Danny, who has just taken off his Duke mask. “I used to not be a fan of it either. But you see my friend over there? He is my best friend on this God-Loving floating rock. He’s also been living with another man for a month now.” Stiles gasps. Jackson of all people being friends with people like Danny is a shock. “Look, what I’m saying here is that you should do what you wanna do. Just make sure you don’t tell nobody. Alright?”

Stiles gulps. “Jackson, I didn’t know you cared.” To which Jackson just shakes his head and slaps Stiles on the back of his own. Scott walks over, waving back at Danny as he enters the other two's conversation.

“Stiles, are you sure I don’t need to hit this guy?” Stiles shakes his head and laughs along with Jackson, and for some reason, Stiles can’t really remember the last time he’s seen Jackson laugh.

“Just remember what I said Stilinski, life is short, so don’t be a Dimwit.” He winks at Stiles and shakes Scott’s hand before pulling the big mask over his head. “Come on Danny, we got kids to impress!” He calls over to his partner.

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming.” Danny waves at Scott and Stiles. “Later Scott, it was fun chatting with you. Later Stiles.” They both wave at him as he walks out of the alley they’re standing in.

“So what was that, Stiles?” Scott asks as they start walking back out onto the boardwalk.

“Oh, just a bit of friendly advice.” Jackson’s words were still echoing in Stiles’ head. “Surprisingly really good advice.”

“Oh, well that’s good.” Scott hums in approval. “It’s good to get advice sometimes.” Scott looks deep in thought and Stiles wonders what exactly he could be thinking about. “You know, Danny gave me some great advice too. It was just what I needed to hear.” He smiles over at his friend. “What was your advice about?”

Stiles coughs and wonders what exactly he could say without giving it away. “I think it was just what I needed.” He laughs and gives Scott a pat on the back. “Well I was gonna suggest going to see Duke and Dimwit, but I guess that we’d probably be laughing too hard to appreciate it.”

“How about we go on that?” Scott points over to the First Lady and Stiles almost yelps in excitement. The aerial tours have always been his favorite part of Soldier’s Field.

“We can go on an aerial tour of Monument Island!” Stiles almost shouts. “And we can go look at the cool stuff in the Lady Comstock museum and,” he takes a deep breath before continuing, “sorry, I’m just so excited about this.” Scott laughs and puts his hand on on Stiles’ shoulder.

“No, it’s fine.” He gives Stiles a huge smile, the smile that makes Stiles’ heart melt. “It’s… nice to see you so excited.” Scott coughs and looks down, but Stiles can see a small tint of pink on his cheeks. Stiles would be a liar if he said that it didn’t look absolutely beautiful.

“Don’t look down, I like seeing your face.” Stiles reaches over and pulls Scott’s chin up. They smile at each other for a moment before Scott starts laughing awkwardly.

“Um, we should probably try and catch that airship now.” Stiles pulls his hand back as if it’s on fire. He can’t believe he just did that.

“Yeah.” Stiles laughs nervously, starting to walk up towards the gondola. “This’ll be so fun, I love seeing Monument Island around sunset.” He looks down at his pocketwatch. “Which it should be by the time we get there.”

By the time the gondola arrives, Stiles is in the midst of a deep rant about how the “Lamb” is up in the tower. Of course, Scott makes the mistake of asking who the “Lamb” is, and Stiles launches into a full explanation of how she only stayed in Lady Comstock’s womb for a week before she was born, and how they put her up in the tower to protect her from some guy that’s supposed to come and lead her away from her destiny.

Scott probably thinks that the whole thing is stupid, honestly Stiles thinks that it’s probably a lie too but along with his feelings about Scott, his thoughts about the whole “False Shepherd” thing should probably stay under wraps. 

In contrast to the loud conversation at the gondola station, the actual ride itself up to the Aerodrome is pretty quiet. Sitting next to each other on the empty gondola, Stiles feels a sort of peace. Most of the time he tries to talk to cover up the uncomfortable awkwardness that usually accompanies him, but with Scott, it isn’t awkward. With Scott, it’s nice and comfortable, and he doesn’t need to talk to cover up anything. Well anything aside from the massive surge of feelings and energy that swirl in his chest when Scott’s hand ‘accidentally’ rests on top of his own. And then doesn’t move for the whole rest of the ride.

Stiles coughs and stands up as they make it up to the Ship Dock. 

“Are you excited?” He looks at Scott and smiles.The smile he gets back makes his heart fly higher than the airship they’re about to get on.

“Oh yeah I’m excited!” Scott practically shouts. He grabs Stiles hand and they run up to the gate. Scott pretty much throws Stiles through the turnstile and runs through after him. “C’mon Stiles, hurry up,” he calls back as he runs ahead.

Stiles catches up to him just as he sets a couple Eagles down on the counter. “Two tickets for the sunset tour of Monument Island, please.”

“You know, that’s a pretty romantic tour for two… Gentlemen such as yourself.” The ticket booth salesman eyes between the two of them for a moment before Stiles laughs.

“We’re just seeing the sights. It’s nothing like that.” Stiles shakes his head.

“I’m sorry sirs, here are your tickets.” The man hands two tickets to Scott. “You two enjoy yourselves now.” They nodded at him before heading down the dock towards the ship, feeding their tickets into the machine on the door.

_Your tickets have been accepted for our automated aerial tour service. Please feel free to browse around as we wait for any other passengers before departure._

“Automated huh? That’s a lot fancier than last time I was here.” 

Scott crosses his arms.

“And how long ago was that?” Stiles laughs before poking his tongue out at Scott. “I think you just proved my point there, Stiles.”

And elderly couple walk through the bulkhead and Stiles can’t tell whether he feels angry or relieved. 

Part of him wants to be alone with Scott, to be able to do whatever he wants and stare at the bright smile that is sure to flash across Scott’s face the second that the sun shines over Monument Island. He just wants to look at the smile for eternity.

The other part of him is happy that he has some form of supervision that will halt his seriously growing urge to just grab Scott’s face and kiss him as though the city was sinking.

Unfortunately, the old man takes a look at his watch before taking his wife’s hand. “Oh honey, our tickets are for tomorrow.” The couple smile at each other before slowly walking out of the airship. Stiles likes the way that they smile at each other, like they are only thing that matters in their world.

Stiles wants Scott to smile at him like that. 

Right on time, Scott turns and smiles. “I’m really excited for this. Like, really excited.” Scott puts too much emphasis on the word ‘really’ and Stiles laughs a little bit.

“I’m glad you’re excited Scotty. I am too.” And he offers Scott a smile in return. Off to the side, the bulkhead closes and the resulting ‘clang’ causes Scott to jump, startled.

“You know, they really should’ve given some form of warning for that.” He crosses his arms, clearly embarrassed about being startled by a closing door, and the look on his face makes Stiles smile. 

“Aw, don’t feel embarrassed Scotty, I don’t think any less of you for being a wuss.” 

Scott scowls before giving him a playful shove. Stiles fakes falling over and looks up a Scott with a pretend look of hurt. Unfortunately, it’s a bit too realistic and Scott gasps, reaching his hand down towards Stiles.

“Stiles, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to knock you down.” Stiles takes his hand and stands up as the engines roar to life and begin to propel the airship forward.

“Scott, it’s fine, I fell on purpose. Sorry I worried you.” He places a hand on Scott’s shoulder and Scott’s frown slowly turns back into a smile. He’s looking at Stiles, and for a moment, Stiles sees something flash in his eyes, just like he saw in that old man’s eyes when he looked at his wife. 

They sit down on a bench and Stiles spreads his legs out forward while Scott keeps his legs just under the seat, feet aimlessly tapping the metal floor. 

“What was home like for you? Before you came up here?” Stiles doesn’t look over when he asks the question, he just leans his head back against the wall. “Like who were your friends? What was your dad like?” 

Scott sighs next to him and leans down, his elbows resting on his knees and his chin perched on his hand. 

“I really only had two friends, Derek and Lydia. They were these twins that would get into all kinds of trouble. And then one time, I walked in as they were pulling a prank, and they kind of took me under their wing. It was just after my parents had split up, and I was kind of miserable. I guess Derek and Lydia took pity on me.” Out of the corner of his eye, Stiles can see a small smile cross Scott’s features for a moment. “I already miss them. I know they’re probably missing me too, but there’s no changing what’s been done.” He looks over at Stiles, “You would’ve liked them, I know they would’ve loved you.” 

Stiles smiles at him and nods. “Maybe one day I’ll meet them, you never know.” Stiles certainly knows: there’s no leaving Columbia. He’s not even sure that you can mail things to the surface, he’s never really had any reason to try. Stiles sees the evening sun starting to shine through the windshield up by the controls and he’s thankful for the distraction. 

“Oh look, we’re almost here.” He points over at the glass and Scott practically jumps off the bench, running over to the window and pressing his face up against the glass. 

“It’s so beautiful.” Stiles walks up behind him, the side of his chest sliding across Scott’s back for a brief moment, causing a noticeable hitch in both of their breathing. It’s quickly forgotten as they both ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ at the sight.

The slowly fading sunlight is shining off of The Columbia Monument’s brass wings, and the colors of the sunset are painted across the sky, highlighted by the colors reflected off the monument. “Do you think she knows?” Scott whispers to Stiles.

“Knows what?” He only wants to look at Scott for a second, but the moment that his gaze leaves the statue and lands upon his friend, he absolutely cannot look away from the smile of pure joy plastered on Scott’s face.

“Do you think the girl in the monument knows how beautiful her tower is?” Scott looks over at him for a brief moment, and their eyes lock before they both turn back towards the window.

“I think it should be a crime if she doesn’t. Miracle child or no, she should know how amazing this is.” Stiles turns to look at Scott, who is looking at the statue with a look of wonder. “I think everyone should know how beautiful it is.” He’s totally talking about the statue, there’s an absolute zero chance that he’s talking about the way Scott’s eyes are lit up like Christmas morning, or how his lopsided smile is quite possibly the best thing that Stiles has ever seen.

The airship starts to slowly make its u-turn to return back to Soldier’s Field just as the sun finally dips under the horizon. Scott pulls back from the window and Stiles quickly averts his gaze from his friend’s face. 

“You know, I’ve never really watched the sunset with anyone before,” Scott says. Honestly, how is Stiles supposed to respond to that? 

Scott walks back towards the bench as Stiles manages to squeak out a weak “Oh.” He sits down next to Scott, his breathing short and his chest tight and his head feeling absolutely ridiculous.

“I’m kinda glad it was with you.” Stiles wants to bark out a snarky retort; something along the lines of "Only kinda?"; but his throat dries up and the window of time for a comeback passes quickly, so he just leans his head back against the wall where it was previously and sets his hands down on the shiny wooden bench, content to sit in the slightly awkward silence that fills the airship.

Scott’s hand falls on top of his. He wants to jerk away his hand from the touch, Scott’s hand feels like fire, and Stiles’ chest is burning. In contrast to Scott’s hand being fire, his own is ice, frozen to the spot, trying miserably to not feel the sensation of Scott’s rough palm sitting on top of his knuckles. 

Stiles is counting the seconds in a vain effort to try and distract himself from the way that Scott’s thumb slowly starts dragging itself across the back of his hand. Scott; as far as Stiles can see out of the corner of his eye; is completely relaxed, his eyes casually shut and a small natural smile pulling his lips in a slight upward curve. The small movement on the back of his hand is shocking and worrisome and... safe. It makes Stiles feel so comfortable to the point where he’s afraid to admit to himself how natural it feels to have Scott’s hand encompassing his own, slowly comforting him with a gentle caress of his thumb.

Stiles is unsure if he’s happy or disappointed when the airship comes to a halt. The big iron door clanks open, and Scott’s hand lifts off his slowly as Scott comes up to his feet, motioning for Stiles to do the same as he begins to head for the door.

“I really enjoyed that,” Scott said as he and Stiles exit the airship.

“I did too,” Stiles says. He enjoyed the sunset, he enjoyed the tour, he enjoyed the way that Scott’s face lit up in awe at the sight of the Monument, and he really enjoyed the almost holding hands thing that they were doing on the way back. “Now c’mon,” he smiles over at Scott, “we need to go get on the Ferris Wheel for the fireworks testing.” 

Scott’s face lights up in joy, “Fireworks? Why didn’t you say so?” He grabs Stiles’ hand and runs through the ticket office, much to the disapproving eye of the man behind the counter. “Let’s go!” He pulls Stiles into the gondola control room and slams over the lever excitedly.

If he were ever to tell the story of his day on Soldier’s Field, Stiles could never say that the gondola ride was quiet. In spite of the silence, Scott is practically vibrating next to him. 

“I’m guessing you’re excited?” Stiles doesn’t even have to look to know that Scott is smiling, but does so anyways and is rewarded with a bright grin. 

“I’ve never seen fireworks before.” Stiles nearly falls out of his seat at this sudden revelation. “My dad said they were stupid and useless and he said there was no point to go see them.” Stiles can see Scott’s smile falter for a moment when he mentions his father, but it comes back full force when the ride comes to a screeching halt at the end of the track.

“C’mon, let’s go!” He pushes open the door and heads out onto the boardwalk, bouncing up and down while waiting for Stiles.

Stiles exits the control room and heads down the walk, Scott following closely behind him. He can see the Ferris Wheel a little ways ahead and knows that the only reason that Scott isn’t already at the gate is because he wants to walk with him. That makes Stiles smile. 

He looks around, noticing how dark it’s gotten as he realizes the walk is illuminated only by the electric lamps lining the paved street. When they finally get to the gate, Scott looks like he’s about to explode with excitement. 

“Is he okay sir?” The man by the gate asks Stiles, keeping a wary eye on Scott.

“He’s just a bit excited, he’s had a full day.” Stiles laughs and hands the man a couple Eagles and pushes Scott through the gate. Scott pulls open the door to one of the Ferris Wheel seat carts and clambers inside, motioning for Stiles to follow him. When Stiles sits down and closes the door, Scott grabs his hand, well below the level of the wooden siding and well below where anyone can see it. Stiles freezes, tension rolling through his body.

“I’m sorry,” Scott turns to him with a worried look, “I’m just really excited.” Scott lets go of his hand and Stiles’ entire body screams out in protest.

“Nah, it’s fine, I just wasn’t expecting it is all.” Scott gives him a quizzical look before reaching down and taking Stiles’ hand in his own.

“So this is okay?” The Wheel jerks backward as people enter the cart in front of them, and Stiles gulps, his throat feeling like sandpaper. He nods, prompting Scott to move his hand and readjust until their fingers lace together. “What about this? Is this alright?”

Stiles heart is beating out of his chest, but he turns to Scott and grins. “Better than alright.” Scott smiles his heart-melting smile, squeezing Stiles’ hand a little bit before leaning back and relaxing in the sporadic starts and stops of the Ferris Wheel constantly picking up passengers.

The whirring of the motors comes to a stop when he and Scott are a few cars in front of the top, honestly the perfect position in Stiles’ opinion.

_Well folks, we have a special treat for you tonight, in just a minute they’re going to be testing the fireworks for tomorrow’s celebration, we’re gonna dim the lights so y’all can get a nice view._

The voice over the Field intercom cuts out with a blip and all the electric lamps on the Boardwalk far below them dim to near pitch darkness.

“I’m so excited, Stiles.” Scott whispers next to him, and Stiles plucks up the courage to squeeze Scott’s hand. 

He leans over and whispers in his friend’s ear. “Me too Scotty.” In the cool night air, Stiles can see his breath wash over Scott’s ear, and Scott freezes.

Stiles is worried he screwed up, until he sees Scott unfreeze and smile as wide as humanly possible. “Stiles, look!” And sure enough, Stiles can see the first few rockets being shot into the air, disappearing briefly before exploding in bright red, white, and blue. Scott gasps next to him, and for a moment Stiles is worried that he doesn’t like them. “Stiles, they’re... amazing.” 

More and more fireworks get shot up into the air, squealing before they explode, and every single one makes Scott gasp next to him. Different colors and shapes blossom across the sky, and although most people would probably get annoyed by the constant comments and sighs and gasps, Stiles drinks it all in. He’s relishing in how happy Scott is, and in the fact that he brought this happiness to Scott is definitely something he can get used to.

Much to Scott’s audible dismay, the fireworks eventually reach the big finale,then finally end. Everyone around the Boardwalk claps furiously and Scott just gives out a contented sigh.

“You alright there, Scotty?” Stiles is worried that the end may have been a letdown or something.

Scott shakes his head as the wheel starts to descend. “It was one of the very best things that I’ve ever seen.” He squeezes Stiles’ hand. “And I’m so glad that I got to see it with you Stiles.” 

As the Boardwalk lights slowly come back on; albeit much dimmer than earlier; Stiles is thankful that in the remaining darkness, Scott probably can’t see the ridiculous blush that’s spread across his cheeks.

When their seats reach the bottom of the wheel, Stiles unweaves their fingers and opens up the small door, stepping out and letting Scott out before shutting it.

_Attention patrons, please make your way to the exits so that we can shut up for the night._

Stiles gets an idea as they start walking, a wonderfully awful idea. 

“C’mon Scott, I need to use the restroom,” he says.

He pulls Scott over into the shadows by the gate to Battleship Bay. After making sure no one could see them, Stiles pulls a small lockpick out of his pocket. 

“Now, we’re gonna have a little fun out of bounds.” He puts the pick in the gate’s lock and works it over for a few seconds before turning his wrist and pulling the gate open with a faint click. 

Scott passes through and Stiles follows him, quietly shutting the gate behind them. “Stiles, what are we doing?” he whispers, following Stiles through a door.

“We are gonna relax on the beach.” They step through the door and onto the moonlit white sand. Stiles walks across the cool sand and up onto the wooden dock before taking off his shoes and socks, dangling his legs off the edge.

Scott laughs and does the same before sitting next to Stiles. “A beach on a floating city? That’s an interesting idea.” Stiles laughs next to him. “Too bad we don’t have our swimsuits.”

“That would be fun.” Stiles admits, although to be honest, he’s perfectly happy just sitting there.

“Of course, we don’t really need them now do we?” Scott looks around quickly to ensure their loneliness. He stands up and pulls off his shirt and sweater and Stiles is pretty sure he’s going to blow up. “C’mon Stiles, let’s have some fun.”

Scott is pulling off his pants when Stiles’ mind finally manages to make a few words. 

“Scott, what are you doing?“ His heart is trying to break through his ribs.

“Well, there are some towels and such over there,” He points to the end of the dock where a pile of towels is sitting in a bin. “So why can’t we just go swimming?” He pulls off his underwear and jumps into the water. 

“It’s a bit chilly, but that’s fine.” Stiles coughs awkwardly. “You gonna join me Genim? Or are you just gonna sit there?” 

Stiles takes that as a challenge and hurriedly pulls off his tie and shirt. “Yeah, there we go, party boy Stilinski has arrived,” Scott hoots from down in the water. 

Stiles laughs down at him before pulling off his pants and underwear in a single move and jumping down into the water. Scott was not kidding at all, the water is ridiculously cold. 

“I’ll race you over to that boulder!” Scott calls out and Stiles laughs, pushing off from the wooden dock towards the rock Scott is pointing at. “Hey, no fair! You’re getting a head start.” Stiles can hear Scott scrambling in the water behind him and he laughs as he continues to power towards the boulder ahead of him. He’s maybe ten feet away when Scott zooms past him and slams a fist on the rock. 

“I come from California, you’re gonna have to swim faster than that to beat me.” A smug smile plays its way onto Scott’s face and Stiles laughs.

“Fine, I’ll race you back.” Stiles knows he sounds confident, and Scott takes off. Stiles on the other hand, stays by the rock, snickering to himself as Scott continues racing straight towards the dock.

When Scott finally surfaces and looks around in confusion, Stiles lets out a huge burst of laughter. He’s laughing so hard that he doesn’t even notice that Scott is quickly swimming his way back until the other boy is right next to him. The sudden proximity of Scott’s naked body shoots some energy straight down into Stiles’ crotch and he silently thanks god that the light of the moon is keeping the surface of the water looking opaque.

“That wasn’t very funny, you know.” Scott looks at him solemnly and Stiles stops laughing.

“What do you mean, Scotty?” A pang stabs through Stiles’ chest as Scott looks at him worriedly.

“Well I was worried about you there for a second, I thought maybe you got hurt or something and I got really worried.” 

Stiles gulps, he hadn’t even thought about that and now he feels awful about it. He pulls a hand out of the water and places it on Scott’s cheek, Scott leans into the touch in a way that makes Stiles’ heart skip a beat.

“I’m sorry Scotty, I didn’t even think about it. I won’t do it again.” He really won’t, he never wants to see that look on Scott’s face again.

Scott smiles back at him. “Thanks Stiles.” He looks up at the moon for a moment, calmly floating in the water, “You’re all that’s keeping me going right now. I don’t have my friends or my family,” he moves back down to look Stiles in the eyes, “but I have you.”

Scott swims out into the open water, and Stiles follows him quickly, the ripples splashing over his mouth as he swims. 

“I’m glad I have you too Scott. Like, I’m really glad.” Scott looks at him and smiles a wide smile, the moonlight reflecting off of his white teeth. “I’m serious, I don’t really have friends, all of the fun people either don’t like me, or they don’t wanna risk being around the son of a cop.” He looks up at Scott, who places a hand on his shoulder. It shouldn’t cause his already growing erection to stiffen like it does, but he’s a teenager so that’s what happens. “I’m really happy I have you.”

Scott moves to hug him, but he quickly pulls backward. He can’t think of a proper excuse so he just coughs awkwardly. “Do you wanna race again or something?” Scott approaches him slowly and he gulps, worried that Scott is going to get a bit more than he bargained for, like maybe a dick to the thigh.

“I don’t wanna race,” He smiles so warm that for a moment, Stiles forgets his nervousness. “In fact, I don’t really want to run from anything right now. In the moonlight here, I don’t really have anything to hide.” He pulls an arm above the water line to gesture to himself, a joke about his nudity Stiles assumes. And then he puts his hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “I want to be with you Stiles.”

It feels like all the air evacuates Stiles’ body just as all the words evacuate his mind. Scott is in front of him, naked and wet and glistening under the light of the moon, and he just said the seven words that Stiles wanted to hear most in the world. 

“Am I asleep right now?” Stiles manages to stammer out, and in response, Scott just shakes his head, moving closer and reminding Stiles of his growing problem down under. “Scott, I-” But Scott already moves too far and his thigh brushes over Stiles’ erection.

Scott only smiles at him. “Yeah, me too.” And Stiles can slowly feel Scott’s growing crotch press against his own thigh and he gasps. 

“Oh,” He pauses for a moment. “Oh. So like, you want me in that way.” He can feel the disappointment spread across his features.

Scott shakes his head. “No stupid,” he places a hand on Stiles’ chest, directly over his heart, “I want you in this way.”

Stiles smiles, quite possibly the happiest smile to make its way onto his face since his mother died several years ago. And he takes his moment.

In the water, in the moonlight, with their erections pressing against each other’s thighs, Stiles moves forward and presses his lips to Scott’s. Scott’s lips are as soft and warm as his heart, and they effortlessly glide over Stiles’. At some point he thinks that someone’s tongue is in someone’s mouth, but he isn’t particularly sure who’s it is.

But he is sure that he’s kissing Scott. And when they finally pull apart and the moonlight shines on Scott’s tan smiling face, Stiles is pretty sure that this is the best feeling he’s ever known in his life.


	3. Chapter 3

Stiles slams the door open and runs to the kitchen, leaving Scott standing in the doorway, confused. He runs up towards the ice-box and finds a note, definitely what he was looking for and definitely what he wanted to find.

 

_ Stiles, I’m spending the night in the office. You know the rules, try not breaking all of them. _

 

He runs over to Scott and pushes the door closed. “Dad’s out tonight, so we-” Is all he manages to say before Scott pins him against the door, lips sliding down onto his own. Their bodies are pressing together and Stiles lets out a small moan the moment Scott’s lips leave his. “Scott.”

 

“What?” Scott’s hands are traveling down his body and sliding under his shirt. Stiles stammers and his cheeks flush red at the sudden contact of Scott’s cool fingers on his stomach.

 

“Upstairs,” he swallows thickly, “We need to go upstairs.” Scott’s hands leave his stomach and he breathes a short sigh of relief before Scott grabs his hand and pulls him up the stairs quickly. Stiles honestly doesn’t even know how they managed to make it to the room so fast, but it doesn’t really matter because he’s pulling Scott’s shirt off and pushing him down onto the bed, kissing his tan friend fervently as his fingers struggle with the buttons on his own shirt.

 

He finally manages to unbutton and pull his shirt off just as Scott’s hands wrap around his waist, pulling their bodies together, and by extension, their clothed erections. “Shit, Scott, these pants need to get off.”

 

Scott rubs them together and it takes all of Stiles’ willpower not to moan at the feeling. “Why is that?” Scott grinds against him again and Stiles whimpers.

 

“I need you to touch me.” Scott pushes their hips together and Stiles coughs, the pleasure sending a shock through his system. “I need to touch you.” Scott is smiling, even in the dark of the room, Stiles can see his white teeth shining. “Fuck, something needs to touch something here.” He grunts and shoves his hips downward in a desperate need for contact.

 

“Oh, you mean like this?” Scott leans up and grabs a bit of Stiles’ neck in his teeth. Stiles gasps as a shudder flows through his body, his nerves sending shockwaves of pleasure and pain through his system, driving his body into a sensory overload.

 

Scott’s teeth let go of him, and in a whir of motion, he flips them over, his rough hands on Stiles’ chest effectively pinning him down. “Was that what you meant?” Scott slides one of his hands down Stiles’ stomach, the other still preventing him from moving. “Or do you like this more?” The moving hand slides its fingers under the line of Stiles’ pants for a brief moment, barely coming into contact with the sensitive flesh.

 

“That, that, definitely that.” Stiles’ mind is going a mile a minute; even that little touch set every nerve on edge. Scott smiles above him before moving his hands down to unbutton his own pants, sliding them off with ease.

 

“Should I get rid of these too?” Scott motions to his underwear and Stiles nods vigorously. Scott laughs a little bit before sliding the cotton down his legs and pulling them off. “What about yours, Stiles? I’d prefer them off.”

 

Stiles’ throat feels like molasses, did Scott just say that? He just said something, and Stiles is pretty sure that it involved pants removal so he nods again, unable to force out any words. Scott laughs and shakes his head. 

 

“I’m sorry Stiles, I didn’t quite hear you, what did you say?”

 

“Scott. Pants. Off. Now.” Stiles pushes the words out with a forced smile. It must be enough for Scott, though, because he makes short work of unbuttoning Stiles’ pants, pulling both them, and his underwear off in one fell swoop.

 

Finally bare-skinned, Scott presses their hips together. Their dicks sliding together makes Stiles groan. “I’m guessing you like that?” Scott’s voice is harsher, lust-coated, and much, much hotter than Stiles remembers from a few moments ago. Scott grinds against him again, this time groaning in unison with Stiles. “You know, you’re gonna have to actually talk during this,” he laughs, “I never thought I’d have to tell you that.”

 

Stiles tries to glare up at Scott, but he doesn’t particularly have control over his face as Scott grinds their hips together again, and Stiles’ face twists in pleasure. “Jerk,” he manages to breathe out, “I’m enjoying the moment. Of course, I’d enjoy it a bit more if there was some touching involved.”

 

“I think this,” Scott presses them together, “Counts as touching.”

 

“More touching. Different touching. With hands and things.” Scott looks like he’s going to laugh. Stiles can’t help it if everything is coming out in jumbles of words; having another body pressed against his is frying his circuits.

 

“Oh, why didn’t you just say that.” Scott’s voice is leaking sarcasm the same way Stiles’ dick is leaking precum. Scott moves a hand downwards and wraps it around both of their erections. “Better?” And Stiles nods, because yes, even just having Scott’s calloused hand wrapped around his length is shooting sparks of pleasure behind his eyes.

 

But it doesn’t even compare to the feeling as Scott starts slowly pumping his hand. It feels familiar and foreign and damn fantastic all at the same time, and Stiles is wondering how his brain is even functioning at this point. He decides it doesn’t matter, and moves a hand down to grab Scott’s dick out of his own. Once again, the feeling is so foreign yet oh so familiar to him and Stiles is loving every second of it.

 

“Scott, fuck.” he whispers, and Scott moves down to press their lips together. It’s so much more intense than it was at the Bay, but it still has such a feeling of sincerity in it that Stiles heart starts to melt just as much as his brain. 

 

“What? Faster?” Scott moves his hand faster for a moment before returning to the comfortable pace that he was set at previously. “Tell me what you want Stiles.”

 

Stiles leans up and kisses him, smiling the whole time. “I want you to flip over.” Scott smiles; of course he smiles; and obliges, flipping Stiles up on top of him.

 

“Like this?” And Stiles nods down at him before moving his legs back and leaning down to press a few small kisses on Scott’s chest. He moves downwards slowly, and he can feel the heat level rising as he descends until finally he’s face to face; well head; with Scott’s dick. He looks up and sees Scott watching his every move; somehow that makes everything even more exciting for Stiles.

 

He wraps a hand around the cock in front of him and slowly pulls the head into his mouth. Scott moans the instant that Stiles’ mouth wraps around him and the sound goes straight into Stiles’ memory bank.

 

It’s hard, Stiles didn’t expect it to be hard. Not the dick in his mouth, he knows that’s supposed to be hard. He didn’t expect the amount of concentration involved with having an erection in his mouth. He’s moving his hand and sucking and getting into a good rhythm until Scott puts a hand in his hair and pulls him up. 

 

“Stiles, you need to stop.”

 

“What? Why?” Scott pulls him up and smashes their lips together. Scott catches Stiles’ bottom lip in his teeth before letting go and looking him in the eyes.

 

“This isn’t going to last very long if you keep on like that.” 

 

Stiles’ eyes widen in realization, Scott was already close to finishing and Stiles had only been working for a few minutes. “How about I help you out for a little bit?” Scott’s words barely register in his head before Stiles’ back meets the mattress.

 

“Scott?” Stiles looks down and Scott is dragging his tongue next to the trail of hair on Stiles’ stomach.

 

Scott pauses and looks up towards Stiles. “What is it, Stiles?”

 

Stiles coughs and laughs a little bit. “I… I like you.” Scott laughs and moves downwards, taking Stiles’ dick in his hand, earning a moan.

 

“I like you too.” 

 

Scott lowers his head and his mouth wraps around Stiles’ cock. Stiles wants to watch, but the feeling is so intense he throws his head back and moans. Scott is moving his head, and his tongue is sliding along the bottom of Stiles’ length and Stiles doesn’t know how much more of it he can take.

 

“Scott, holy shit.” He looks down and Scott is looking up at him, his lips still around Stiles’ erection. “I know what you meant when you said you weren’t gonna last.”

 

Scott lifts his head up and smiles. “Am I doing good then?” Stiles nods and Scott places a kiss on the tip of Stiles’ dick. Under any other circumstances, Stiles would think that it was disgusting, but for some reason it was just cute as Hell.

 

“This is good, I like this.” Scott moves up and messes with Stiles’ hair before kissing him.

 

“I damn well hope so.” Scott reaches down and pulls on Stiles’ cock. “Because we’ve still got a lot more to do.”

 

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Stiles pulls out his trademark smirk; one that can, and has, gotten him into and out of trouble constantly.

 

Scott offers a devious smile in retaliation. “You tell me, lover.” 

 

Stiles puts a finger to Scott’s lips, “Oh don’t talk like tha-” but Scott effectively silences him by taking the finger in his mouth and sucking on it. Stiles bites his lip, something so stupid like this shouldn’t be as sexually appealing as it is, and if there was any room for his dick to get harder before, that has certainly changed. He pushes Scott backwards onto the mattress, nearly smacking his head on the footboard. 

 

He puts another finger in Scott’s mouth, and Scott licks it in the same hungry manner that he licked Stiles’ cock. The thought of Scott’s mouth being on his cock again could easily drive Stiles to insanity if he wasn’t already going crazy from everything else going on at the same time. He pulls his fingers out and laughs at the small frown that Scott fakes.

 

“How about this?” Stiles reaches under him and rubs his spit-coated fingers right along the crack of Scott’s ass. When Stiles’ cool fingers trace over the hole, he can see a shudder rock through Scott’s body and he starts nodding eagerly.

 

“Yeah, that’ll definitely work.” Stiles grips Scott’s leaking dick in his other hand, pumping it slowly as he hesitantly pushes one finger inside. Scott’s face clenches and one of his hands fists the mattress cover.

 

“Easy, Stiles.” Stiles was about to pull back but Scott’s comment steels his resolve. He pushes his finger in farther in and quickens the pace a little bit with his other hand.

 

Scott moans and relaxes a bit around Stiles’ finger. “Doing better there, Scotty?” Scott nods and swallows slowly, his head falling backwards. 

 

Stiles looks down and lets some spit drop onto his other fingers, they’ve dried in the short amount of time since they were in Scott’s mouth, and Stiles is pretty sure that dry fingers are a no-go. 

 

He looks down and pushes another finger in only to receive some sort of hissing sound in response. “Nope, not yet, give me a second.” Stiles nods, knowing that Scott can’t see it through closed eyes and withdraws the second finger. He pushes the first finger in fully and retracts it a little bit, his second hand getting a bit tired but still keeping up a decent pace.

 

“Just tell me when you’re ready, okay?” Stiles looks up to see a bead of seat slide across Scott’s forehead as he nods.

 

“Will do.” Stiles continues the motions with both hands, trying desperately not to rush anything, his still-hard dick just wants to push forward; Scott be damned; but thankfully, his head is keeping his body in control. “Okay, you can try another.”

 

Stiles drips some more spit down onto his finger and lets out a breath before pushing it into Scott slowly, upping the pace with his hand to counteract any pain, and Scott moans. That makes Stiles smile, instead of pain he’s rewarded with pleasure this time around.

 

“That actually feels good.” Scott breathes out, and Stiles laughs.

 

“I should hope so, there’s gonna be more than fingers in there in a minute.” Scott gulps and Stiles corrects himself. “I mean, if that’s okay with you, we can do this if you want.”

 

But Scott shakes his head, “No, I’m good, just a bit nervous.” He tries to laugh to make it lighthearted, but Stiles can tell that the laugh is fake.

 

“Just tell me to stop and I’ll stop, okay?” Scott nods and it makes Stiles smile. He starts moving his fingers, making a little bit of a scissor motion, and Scott gasps. “Shit, you okay?”

 

“Don’t stop.” The words come out as a moan, and Stiles ups his pace with both hands, not sure which one is providing Scott the pleasure, but eager to hear him moan again.

 

“Stiles, you should probably,” he nods down towards Stiles’ hard dick in between them. “you know. Get in me.” The words make Stiles’ cock jump in anticipation.

 

“You sure?” Scott nods quickly and Stiles withdraws his fingers, eliciting a moan from Scott. Stiles leans down to his free hand and fills it up with saliva; silently cursing himself for not having any sort of lubrication other than his own spit. He drags the hand over his aching dick and lets out a small moan.

 

“If it’s too much at any point, tell me to stop, okay?” Stiles positions the tip of his dick right at Scott’s entrance and looks up at Scott for approval. Scott nods his head and Stiles shakes his own. “You have to say it out loud, Scott.”

 

“If it’s too much, I’ll tell you to stop.” Stiles nods and pushes forward, nudges his dick into Scott and furiously pumping Scott’s cock.

 

Behind Stiles’ eyes, white lights of pleasure are sparking, and he barely registers the “Holy shit” that Scott gasps out before coming back to his senses and flashing a look of worry down at his friend.

 

“Are you okay?” Stiles stops his progression and his hand, but Scott shakes his head furiously.

 

“Don’t stop, either of them, don’t stop.” Stiles nods and picks up his previous pace: stroking Scott’s dick as he slowly continues moving his own further into Scott. It’s at least one thousand times better than having Scott’s mouth on him, and Stiles can’t remember a single time in his life that he’s felt this level of pleasure as he finally runs out of room to push forward.

 

“Doing good?” Scott looks up at Stiles and smiles, sweat starting to from and trail down his forehead.

 

“Quit checking up on me and fuck me already.” The words shoot straight through Stiles and down into his dick, causing it to pulse inside of Scott. Scott moans, and the sound is like music to Stiles’ ears.

 

“I can do that.” He moves his hand off of Scott’s cock, grabbing Scott’s wrist and pulling his hand over. “But you’re gonna have to work on this.” Scott laughs and starts massaging himself as Stiles puts his hands down onto the mattress.

 

He’s trying to keep a regular pace, but it’s surprisingly hard to. Even trying to go slow, each thrust is different and Stiles is cursing because some thrusts make Scott moan, others make him gasp and curse under his breath. Stiles grabs a pillow and slides it under Scott’s back, trying to provide a better angle.

 

The moment he thrusts in after moving the pillow, Scott cries out, “Fuck, Stiles!” And Stiles freezes, worried that he hurt his friend, or lover, or whatever they are now.

 

“Why the fuck did you stop? Did I say stop?” He looks up at Stiles and he’s panting, Stiles just now realizes that he’s panting too, his own chest is coated in sweat much like Scott’s.

 

Stiles laughs and nods, continuing his previous motions at a quicker pace. Scott is much more vocal now, frequently calling out both Stiles’ and the Lord’s name. Stiles would find it funny if he weren’t so preoccupied with his slowly quickening pace and the way his arms are starting to feel like rubber.

 

Stiles’ arms collapse down and his chest falls onto Scott’s, he’s still thrusting hard and fast, but he just can’t support himself anymore. He arches his back a little bit to allow Scott to continue pulling his cock just as hard as Stiles is fucking him. 

 

“Stiles, I’m gonna come soon.” Almost in emphasis of his statement, Stiles presses hard into him and he moans loudly. Stiles nods into Scott’s neck, trying to signify that he’s also getting very close to finishing.

 

Scott’s fingers are clawing a trail down his back, and just the sheer thought of it is what pushes Stiles over the edge. He thrusts all the way into Scott and freezes as his orgasm rolls through him. “Scott, fuck, I’m coming.”

 

Apparently either his thrust or his voice pushes Scott over too, because Stiles can feel it as warm liquid spurts onto his already sweat-damp stomach. “Stiles.” 

 

His whispered name passes Scott’s lips, and Stiles is pretty sure it’s the very best thing he’s ever heard as he pulls his already softening dick out of Scott, slightly annoyed at the way Scott winces when he pulls himself out fully.

 

“Scott?” He collapses down onto his tan friend, completely uncaring about the already cooling liquid beginning to stick them together.

 

“Yeah, Stiles?” One of Scott’s hands makes its way to slide through Stiles’ damp hair, pushing it off of his face.

 

“I think we need a shower.” Scott laughs and sits up, causing Stiles to slide off the bed with a yelp and a thump.

 

“Yeah,” Stiles looks up during the pause and observes the ruined state of their bodies, “we definitely do.” Scott reaches down and pulls Stiles up to standing before standing up off the bed. “But first.” He leans up slightly to kiss Stiles’ swollen lips. It’s a soft and tender kiss, just the kind that Stiles’ parents used to share before his mom got sick, and it makes his chest swirl in an unknown feeling. He ignores that and smiles before dragging Scott towards the door of the room, because showers definitely need to be had.

 

Almost as if Scott was reading his mind, Scott picks Stiles up and runs down the hall towards the bathroom, pushing open the door and turning the shower knob with his foot, all before setting Stiles down on the tile. Stiles just shakes his head. “You’re absolutely ridiculous.”

 

Scott has a goofy grin plastered on his face when his answers. “Yeah, but I’m the absolutely ridiculous guy you just had sex with.”

 

That actually makes Stiles smile as he puts a hand on Scott’s back, “You’re right,” he pushes Scott under the freezing cold spray of water, “and now you’re the absolutely ridiculous guy that I just pushed into the shower.”

 

“Oh, you jerk, it’s freezing.” Scott reaches out a wet hand and grabs Stiles by the wrist, pulling him under the cold waterfall and into a bear hug, “There we go, now we’re freezing together.”

 

The water runs down Stiles’ back, and Scott was right, it is absolutely freezing. Having Scott’s arms around him is nice though, and he leans his head down to rest on Scott’s shoulder. “I think I’ll just wait here until the water warms up,” he presses his nose into the crook of Scott’s neck, “if that’s alright with you.”

 

Scott laughs and the motion rocks through his body, and by extension, Stiles’ body. “You’ll get no complaints from me about it.” Stiles smiles and places a kiss on the side of Scott’s neck.

 

Stiles continues to nuzzle down into Scott, enjoying the feeling of Scott’s strong arms still wrapped around him, “You know the water is warm now, right?” And Stiles nods.

 

“Yeah, but I’m really enjoying this.” Scott lets out a small laugh in response. “It’s,” Stiles pauses, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath before letting it out on Scott’s skin, “it’s nice.”

 

“I agree,” Scott pulls back from Stiles before leaning over and pressing a kiss to his lips. The kiss sends sparks down to Stiles’ groin, and he curses himself for his teenage hormones. “but this is way better.” Scott whispers against his lips.

 

When the water finally warms up to a good temperature, Stiles grabs a rag from the corner of the shower and holds it under the spray for a moment. “Time to get clean.” He presses the rag to Scott’s stomach, wiping away the dried come staining his otherwise perfect abs. 

 

Scott laughs and takes the rag out of Stiles’ hand. “It’s your turn.” It’s taking Scott a little bit longer to wipe of Stiles’ stomach, and Stiles laughs when he looks down and notices that Scott is literally just holding his hand on one spot. “I like your stomach, it’s nice.” He mutters before finally moving his hand around and cleaning of Stiles’ stomach.

 

“Now time to get actually clean.” Stiles pushes Scott out from the lines of water and grabs a bottle of shampoo. He pours a glob into his hand and rubs them together before threading his fingers through Scott’s dark hair. He continues to massage his hands through Scott’s hair, trying his very hardest not to laugh at the ridiculous faces that Scott is making. 

 

“You better quit making those faces or this shampoo may just find its way into your eyes.” Scott responds by twisting his face into a pout and it makes Stiles laugh. “Okay puppy, no shampoo for your eyes.” Scott looks elated, and Stiles swears that he is dealing with a child.

 

Stiles moves him under the spray of water, and Scott shakes his head like a dog, flinging water and foam everywhere as the soap starts trailing down his head. He reaches back and grabs the shampoo bottle before smiling up at Stiles. 

 

“Now it’s time to clean you up.” Stiles feels like he should be worried at the troubling smile crossing Scott’s features, but he decides against worrying and just decides to close his eyes.

 

“Have your way with me, Scotty.” Scott laughs and Stiles can hear the bottle click open and sputter some shampoo into Scott’s hand. Stiles feels Scott’s fingers weave through his hair, and it feels weird. Every single little brush of Scott’s fingers against his scalp sets off a little flame under Stiles’ skin.

 

“I really like this. I really like you.” The words slips out of Stiles’ mouth before he can stop them, and his eyes snap open in worry, fixing on Scott’s blank expression. He starts to worry, until Scott’s face changes to an enormous grin.

 

“Good, because you’re gonna be stuck with me forever.” He sticks out his tongue and practically throws Stiles under the showerhead. “Now hurry up and rinse off your hair.” Stiles chuckles and does as he’s told.

 

He picks the rag back up and wraps it around the bar of soap, getting it nice and sudzy. He gulps, putting the bar back on its little holder and he steps towards Scott, placing his rag-covered hand gently on Scott’s chest. Scott lets his head fall back as Stiles starts to rub soapy circles into his chest. His hands trail downwards and soap up Scott’s stomach.

 

“Turn around so I can get your back.” He manages to squeak out, and Scott laughs before obliging, turning around to face away from Stiles. Stiles takes a deep breath before placing his soapy hands on Scott’s shoulder blades, softly running his hands over the contours of his friend’s muscles.

 

His hands start to move down again, and he runs them over the curve of Scott’s ass, squeezing lightly before kneeling to coat Scott’s hair-covered legs in suds. Scott turns back around, giving Stiles a face full of flaccid penis and he looks down at Stiles and laughs. “Oops.”

 

Stiles stands up and pushes Scott back into the water. “Rinse yourself off, ass.”

 

“But, don’t you want to help me?” Scott reaches out and pulls Stiles towards him, placing Stiles’ hands on his hips before drawing his face into a kiss. Stiles feels it, it’s tender and wanting and just everything he’s wanted, and just… great. “I think it’s much more fun when you help.” Scott pulls back and motions downward, where both of their crotches are rubbing together and slowly hardening.

 

“We’re here to get clean, not get dirtier.” Stiles pokes Scott in the chest, trying to be intimidating, but only serving to make them laugh as Scott pulls the rag out of Stiles’ hand.

 

“Fine, but now I get to clean you, and I can’t promise you that my hands won’t wander.” Scott reaches over and runs the bar of soap over the rag before putting the soap back and turning to Stiles.

 

Stiles closes his eyes and leans his head back, nervously anticipating the moment that Scott’s rough hands will touch him. The actual touch sends a shudder through his body as Scott’s fingers skate over his stomach. He can feel the soap suds forming along his abdomen.

 

“You’re blushing pretty hard there, Stiles.” And Stiles’ eyes snap open to Scott standing right in front of him, smiling like the world is his. “You better watch out or it’ll turn your whole body red.” Scott’s grin turns lopsided and goofy as Stiles tries to give him a menacing glare and fails miserably.

 

“Well that’s what happens when someone incredibly attractive is rubbing their hands all over you.” He sticks his tongue out and Scott just laughs at him.

 

“Nah, I think you’re the attractive one here.” And Stiles can feel his blush slowly growing until Scott’s fingers brush over his cheek softly and slowly.

 

“Definitely more attractive than me.” Stiles’ body freezes under Scott’s touch and he can feel the warmth of Scott’s fingers reinvigorate his blush, causing it to spread further across his face and down towards his chest.

 

But his blush recedes quickly as Scott pushes his sud-covered body under the spray of ice-cold water. “You butt!” Stiles shouts and pushes at Scott, missing completely, “It’s positively glacial!”

 

Scott laughs and exits the shower quickly to avoid Stiles’ attacks. “If I warned you, you’d have been scared!” Stiles shuts off the water quickly as the last soap bubbles fade from his body.

 

“You could have given me some hint, that was awful.” He goes to take the towel from Scott but only manages to pull Scott towards him, their bodies pressing flush against each other.

 

Scott smiles slightly upward to Stiles. “Is it awful now though?” He pecks Stiles’ lips quickly and Stiles quickly shakes his head back and forth.

 

“No, definitely not awful, not one bit, nope.“ Stiles is fairly certain he could’ve gone on that line of thought for the rest of eternity, but Scott silences him with another kiss and he’s silently grateful for the interruption.

 

When Scott pulls back, Stiles can vaguely make out his words, “Stiles, did you call me a butt?”

 

Stiles scoffs, “Um, I definitely didn’t.” But Scott laughs at him and pulls the towel over his head.

 

“Such a liar.” 

 

Scott opens the door and Stiles yelps at the rush of cool air on his droplet covered skin. “You better dry off or it’s gonna be very cold for you.” Scott calls back as he pads down the hallway. He presses open the wooden door and looks over at his sweat-covered, come-stained sheets, and shakes his head before moving over to collapse down on to Stiles’ bed. 

 

A quick glance at the wall clock tells him that it’s just past midnight as Stiles enters the room and flails his arms, sighing in exasperation. “Why are you in my bed?”

 

Scott rolls his eyes, and even in the pseudo-darkness of the moonlit room, he’s fairly certain that Stiles sees the gesture. “My bed is gross, besides,” he reaches out an arm, beckoning Stiles to the bed, “it’ll be nice for us to sleep together.”

 

Stiles lets loose a long exaggerated sigh to cover up the smile sliding it’s way over his features. “Alright,” he says, “But you’re gonna have to scoot yourself over.” He steps over toward the bed as Scott shuffles sideways towards the window side of the bed. 

 

Stiles slides under the covers to be treated by Scott curling into him, fingers intertwining with his own, and a mass of hair pushing into Stiles’ face. He laughs in response to the much-welcomed assault of affection. “You know it’s hard to breathe with a faceful of hair.” To which Scott pulls back to straighten out, the tip of his nose an inch away from the tip of Stiles’ own.

 

“I’m sure it’s pretty hard to breathe when I’m kissing you to.” Scott smiles and softly presses his lips against Stiles’, enjoying the way their bodies melt together for just a moment before pulling back and looking intently at Stiles in the darkness. 

 

“You know, I’m really glad I met you, Scotty.” Scott smiles at the words and proceeds to bury his face back into the fuzz of Stiles’ chest.

 

“You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a really long time Stiles.” Scott whispers into his chest, and Stiles is shocked to hear the words. Well, more just surprised and happy, and he leans down to press a kiss in Scott’s still drying hair.

 

“You should get some sleep Scott, we’ve got a lot of things to do tomorrow.” Scott looks up at him with wide eyes.

 

“Like what?” Scott is practically vibrating with excitement in his arms and Stiles lets out a small laugh.

 

“Well the big parade is tomorrow, and so is the actual fireworks celebration too, so we can go see those, or we can stay in if you want since we’ve totally already seen the fireworks.” Scott scoots himself upwards and trails his fingers along the hair dusting Stiles’ stomach.

 

“I think I could stand to miss the fireworks tomorrow.” He smiles and gives Stiles a chaste kiss before turning over and wiggling backwards until their bodies were flush together. “But let’s get to sleep so I can see the other stuff.”

 

Stiles kisses the back of his head and smiles. “Sleep well Scott.” He says, wrapping his arms around the teen in front of him.

 

“Good night.” Stiles smiles at his words and shuts his eyes.

 

_ "Stiles, we have to get out of here!" Stiles can see him motioning towards the door, but the sound of soft music draws Stiles further into the ransacked house. _

 

_ ‘-to take me away from you-’ _

 

_ “Stiles where are you going?” It’s almost like music; it sounds familiar, like something he’s heard in a dream; and it draws Stiles closer towards the back of the house. _

 

_ “Scott, there’s something back here, can’t you hear it?” He grabs Scott by the collar and drags him along, pushing them both through a torn up door. _

 

_ Floating in the center of the room is some sort of crack in the air, shining out light almost like electricity. They can both hear the music drifting out of the crack. _

 

_ “Scott this could be our way out.” _

 

_ “Stiles.” Scott paused and looked at him.  _

 

_ “No Scott look it’s some kind of door, we can get out, we can get out and we can go find your mom and we can be free.” He reaches out his hand towards Scott. “There’s nothing for us here anymore, do you trust me?” _

 

_ “Stiles of course I trust you, but,” _

 

_ “But what?” _

 

_ “How do we know this is gonna take us somewhere safe?” _

 

_ “Anywhere is safer than here.” As if to emphasize his point, they hear the sound of an explosion outside the house, followed by gunfire. “We need to take a leap of faith.” _

 

_ Scott grabs Stiles’ hand, locking their fingers together and squeezing. “As long as we do it together.” _

 

_ Stiles takes a deep breath and steps forward into the crack, pulling Scott along behind him as bright light coats his vision. _

 

Stiles awakes with a start as the sound of an alarm pierces through the quiet room. Scott simultaneously leaps up from bed next to him.

  
“Citizens of Columbia, be on alert, the False Shepherd has been sighted in our city.”


End file.
